POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 


<VS    TO 


CHRISTIAN  FAITH  ANDLIFI 

REV.  FRAN  KT  LEE 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

GIKT  OF^ 


^. 

(Jl&J.   JuJbO* 


Received  ,  190 

Accession  No.    ,..82699.  .    Class  No. 


POPULAR 


MISCONCEPTIONS 


AS  TO 


CHRISTIAN  FAITH  AND  LIFE 


BY 

REV.  FRANK  T.  LEE 
N 


BOSTON 

pilgrim 

CHICAGO 


THE    MEMORIAL    PRESS,    PLYMOUTH,    MASS. 


t'} 


TO 

OBERLIN  COLLEGE, 

MY  ALMA  MATER, 

with  ever  increasing  gratitude  for  its  distinctively 
Christian  spirit  and  its  profound  influence  on  the  life  and 
character  of  the  thousands  who  have  studied  within  its 
walls. 


82689 


CONTENTS 


BOOK  I 

FAITH 
CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    As  to  the  Basis  of  Christian  Faith 9 

II.    As  to  the  Bible 23 

III.  As   to   the   Interpretation   of   Scripture 45 

BOOK  II 

LIFE 

IV.  As  to  Beginning  the  Christian  Life 61 

V.    As  to  Living  the  Christian  Life 79 

VI.    As  to   Sanctification  or   Perfection 92 

VII.    As  to  Experience  as  a  Test  of  the  Reality  of 

Divine  Grace 104 

VIII.    As  to  Things  Specially  Needed  in  Christian 

Life  and  Character  in  These  Times. 118 

IX.    As  to  the  Sources  of  Christian  Contentment 131 

BOOK  III 

SERVICE 

X.    As  to  the  Duty  of  Public  Confession  of  Christ 145 

XL    As  to  What  Constitutes  a  Successful  Church 167 

XII.    As  to  the  Kind  of  Preaching  Needed  in  Our  Age 186 

XIII.  As  to  Foreign  Missions 2°8 

BOOK  IV 

THE  DIVINE   SOURCE 

XIV.  As  to  the  Nature  and  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit 243 


BOOK  I 
FAITH 


POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS    AS    TO    THE    BASIS    OF 
CHRISTIAN  FAITH 

The  central  object  of  Christian  faith  is  Jesus  Christ. 
He  is  the  corner-stone  of  the  Christian  system.  But 
what  is  the  foundation  of  our  faith  in  Jesus  Christ? 
What  is  the  ultimate  basis  upon  which  the  superstructure 
of  the  Christian  system  rests — the  bed-rock  of  our  convic- 
tion of  its  reality,  of  its  truth,  and  of  our  confidence  in  it? 
The  misconceptions  which  prevail  upon  this  point,  not 
alone  among  skeptics  and  cavilers,  but  among  Christian 
people  as  well,  are  numerous  and  radical.  This  fact  leads 
to  a  confusion  and  an  embarrassment  of  mind  on  the 
part  of  the  latter,  of  which  the  opponents  of  Christianity, 
ever  on  the  alert,  are  not  slow  to  take  advantage. 

There  are  those  who  entertain  the  idea  that  the  basis 
of  the  Christian  system  is  a  creed.  This,  to  their  minds, 
is  the  final  authority  by  which  men  must  stand  or  fall  in 
matters  of  religious  belief.  If  this  gives  way,  or  if  any 
article  of  it  fails,  the  whole  superstructure  must  fall. 
Than  this  there  could  hardly  be  a  graver  misconception. 
A  creed  is  merely  a  summary  of  what  some  person,  or 
a  number  of  persons,  conceive  to  be  the  fundamental  truths 
of  the  Christian  religion.  This  summary  is  not  inspired, 
nor  is  it  necessarily  free  from  error.  It  is  a  human  pro- 
duction, an  attempt  to  set  forth  in  an  orderly  way  the 
great  truths  of  the  Christian  system,  which  are  contained 
in  the  Scriptures,  but  which  are  nowhere  formulated  in 
them. 

But  as  men  agree  in  accepting  the  Bible  as  a  whole 
who  yet  differ  in  their  judgments  as  to  the  interpreta- 
tion of  some  parts  of  it,  or  as  to  what  constitute  its 


I0  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

fundamental  and  essential  teachings,  or  as  to  their  relative 
importance,  there  is  naturally  more  or  less  difference  in 
their  statements  or  creeds.  Before  they  can  affiliate 
closely,  or  engage  together  effectively  in  Christian  service, 
it  is  of  vital  consequence  that  they  be  substantially  agreed 
as  to  the  foundations  upon  which  they  stand.  Other- 
wise, occasions  of  discord  are  likely  to  arise.  It  is  but 
natural,  therefore,  that  persons  of  similar  opinions  go 
apart  and  draw  up  statements  embodying  their  views. 
What  they  thus  formulate  constitutes  their  platform  or 
creed.  In  this  way  most  of  the  historic  creeds  have 
had  their  origin. 

So  long  as  a  creed  serves  as  a  basis  of  union  in  matters 
of  religious  belief,  or  as  a  rallying-point  for  aggressive 
Christian  effort,  it  is  of  real  convenience  and  practical 
value.  But  when  its  importance  is  unduly  magnified, 
and  it  is  reckoned  as  of  equal  or  even  greater  authority 
than  the  Word  of  God,  from  which  it  was  derived,  and 
is  regarded  with  corresponding  reverence,  it  becomes  an 
occasion  of  endless  confusion  and  untold  mischief. 

From  the  nature  of  the  case,  therefore,  a  creed  cannot 
properly  be  regarded  as  the  ultimate  foundation  of  the 
Christian  faith. 

But  may  not  the  foundation  which  we  are  seeking,  the 
final  authority  in  things  religious,  be  found  in  the  Chris- 
tian Church?  Was  it  not  intended  that  the  Church 
should  be  a  depository  of  the  oracles  of  God,  and  the 
authorized  interpreter  of  these  oracles  to  men?  Was  it 
not  declared  that  the  gates  of  hell  should  not  prevail 
against  it?  Are  we  not,  for  these  reasons,  justified  in 
locating  here  the  ultimate  basis  of  the  Christian  faith  ? 

So  some  appear  to  think.  The  Church  is  regarded  by 
them  as  virtually,  if  not  actually,  infallible — the  court 
of  last  resort,  to  which  final  appeal  must  be  made.  Thus 
salvation  hinges  upon  acceptance  of  its  authorized  teach- 
ings and  upon  membership  in  it.  There  are  serious 
difficulties  in  maintaining  such  a  position  as  this.  While 


BASIS  OF  CHRISTIAN  FAITH  XI 

the  Church  is  a  divine  institution,  it  is  a  human  institution 
as  well,  and  is  composed  of  very  imperfect,  fallible  people. 
The  Church  is  divine  in  its  origin,  in  its  ideal,  in  its 
Head,  but,  as  it  exists  on  the  earth,  it  has  often  shown 
itself  to  be  decidedly  human. 

Furthermore,  there  are  numerous  divisions  or  sections 
of  the  Church  universal.  Each  of  these,  with  more  or 
less  urgency,  claims  to  be  the  one  true  Church.  Which 
of  these  divisions  is  to  be  recognized  as  the  court  of 
appeal?  We  naturally  have  our  church  preferences, 
but  others,  no  less  sincere,  and  whose  judgment  may  be 
equally  sound,  prefer  other  branches  or  denominations 
than  those  we  favor.  Who  shall  decide  between  us? 
Further,  no  section  of  the  Church  has  always  been  so 
consistent  in  its  actions,  or  so  free  from  error  or  bias  in 
its  deliverances,  as  to  warrant  a  claim  of  infallibility, 
or  as  possessing  final  authority  in  matters  of  faith.  Nor 
is  there  anything  in  Scripture  to  sustain  the  claim  that 
the  mere  intellectual  acceptance  of  the  tenets  of  the  visible 
Church,  or  any  portion  of  it,  or  of  membership  in  it, 
ensures  salvation.  The  vital  thing  is  personal  union 
with  Jesus  Christ.  The  Savior  makes  this  the  one  and 
only  condition  of  salvation. 

The  Church,  as  instituted  by  Christ,  was  designed  to 
be  the  main  agency  for  promoting  his  cause  and  kingdom 
in  the  world.  In  spite  of  imperfections,  it  has  been  of 
immense  service  to  mankind,  and  was  never  more  efficient 
in  its  ministrations  than  it  is  to-day.  The  value  of  its 
testimony  to  the  reality,  power  and  divine  origin  of 
Christianity  cannot  be  estimated  too  highly.  But  this 
is  far  from  making  it  the  foundation  of  the  Christian 
faith. 

It  is  often  asserted  that  the  Bible,  the  inspired  Word 
of  God,  is  the  foundation  of  our  faith;  that  this  is  the 
bed-rock  upon  which  we  are  to  stand;  that  if  this  give 
way,  if  the  discoveries  or  the  investigations  of  science 
in  any  respect  weaken  or  undermine  any  of  its  declara- 


12  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

tions,  or  if  any  error,  however  slight,  be  found  in  it,  or 
if  some  book  included  in  the  Scripture  canon  be  proved 
not  properly  to  belong  to  it,  or  not  to  have  been  written 
by  the  man  whose  name  it  bears ;  that  this  would  destroy 
the  foundation  of  the  Christian  system,  and  compel  us 
to  surrender  the  hopes  as  to  the  future  life  which  we 
have  so  long  and  so  fondly  cherished. 

This  many  have  feared.  Conceding  that  some  or  all 
of  the  suggestions  above  made  should  become  true,  what 
reasons  would  we  then  have  for  the  direful  apprehensions 
suggested?  In  what  way  would  the  essential  teachings 
of  the  Bible  be  thereby  impaired?  How  would  its 
authority  in  moral  and  spiritual  things,  which  are  the 
only  vital  things,  be  in  the  least  disturbed?  Some 
theories  of  inspiration  might  require  revision  in  order  to 
correspond  with  the  facts,  but  the  Bible  itself  would  still 
remain  our  authority  in  spiritual  things,  the  only  infal- 
lible rule  of  faith  and  practice. 

Although  the  questions  suggested  are  not  at  all  dis- 
turbing to  one  who  has  given  the  subject  careful  study, 
and  is  able  to  take  comprehensive  views  of  the  scope  and 
ruling  purpose  of  Scripture,  they  are  nevertheless  a 
stumbling-block  to  many  professing  Christians  and  to 
many  honest  inquirers.  Hence  there  are  difficulties  in 
making  the  Bible,  even  as  an  inspired  volume,  the  only 
foundation  of  Christianity.  This  is  to  impose  unneces- 
sary burdens  upon  the  defenders  of  the  faith;  to  raise 
questions  which  may  not  be  easily  answered.  Not  that 
it  is  impossible  to  answer  them,  but  that  many  Christians 
are  unable  to  do  so. 

In  such  circumstances  it  is  important  to  inquire  if  there 
is  not  some  other  and  better  way  of  presenting  the  matter; 
if  some  position  may  not  be  taken  which  is  less  exposed 
to  assault,  or  from  which  attacks  may  be  warded  off  with 
less  difficulty.  Is  there  not  some  Gibraltar  fortress  of 
defence  wherein  one  may  be  absolutely  secure  ? 

Fortunately  there  is  such  a  position,  whose  importance 


BASIS  OF  CHRISTIAN  FAITH  ^ 

and  strength  have  been  recognized  and  appreciated  in 
growing  degree  by  Christian  scholars  in  recent  years. 
Some,  indeed,  regard  this  position  as  furnishing  the  only 
true  foundation,  solid  and  immovable,  for  Christian  faith. 
This  position  is  not  found  in  the  acceptance  of  any  creed, 
although  the  value  of  creeds  is  not  to  be  disparaged.  Nor 
is  it  to  be  found  in  the  Church  or  in  any  portion  of  the 
same.  Nor  is  it  in  any  dogma  or  definition  of  inspiration, 
although  the  fact  and  principle  of  inspiration  are  not  to 
be  set  aside.  Nor  is  it  even  in  the  Bible  itself  as  a  sacred 
book,  firmly  as  it  has  stood  through  ages  of  fierce  assault. 
The  ultimate  foundation  of  Christianity,  as  many  com- 
petent judges  declare,  is  a  dual  one,  historic  and  experi- 
mental. The  superstructure  of  the  Christian  faith  rests, 
first  of  all,  upon  the  solid  and  enduring  rock  of  historic 
evidence;  secondly,  upon  the  confirmation  of  the  same  in 
the  experience  of  men  of  every  age,  race  and  clime. 

Notice,  first,  the  historical  basis  of  Christianity.  Cer- 
tain incontrovertible  historic  facts,  which  have  never  been 
set  aside  or  seriously  disturbed  by  all  the  mighty  assaults 
of  ancient  or  modern  criticism,  constitute  this  basis. 
They  relate  primarily  to  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Christ  of  history,  the  Word  made  flesh.  To  present 
this  argument  in  compact  yet  comprehensive  form,  we 
may  quote  from  Dr.  George  P.  Fisher,  of  New  Haven, 
one  of  the  clearest  and  ablest  writers  of  the  times  upon 
this  subject : — 

The  Christian  religion  is  made  up  of,  or  springs  out  of  events 
which  form  a  part  of  the  history  of  mankind.  They  occurred  at  a 
definite  epoch,  and  in  a  particular  province  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
Some  of  the  historians  of  these  events,  indeed,  whose  veracity  has 
never  been  successfully  impeached. — although  no  age  has  been  free 
from  attempts  to  do  so, — set  their  narratives  in  connection  with 
universal  history,  by  their  incidental  references  to  recognized  his- 
torical characters,  nations  and  political  events.  Thus  Christianity  is 
fundamentally  and  preeminently  an  historical  religion.  The  central 
figure  and  fact  of  this  set  of  historical  facts  is  Jesus  Christ,  the 
superiority  of  whose  character  over  any  character  known  to  history, 
or  ever  conceived  in  human  thought,  and  whose  uplifting,  ennobling 
influence  upon  the  world's  life  no  one  can  deny.  The  facts  per- 
taining to  him  and  his  life,  his  mighty  deeds,  remarkable  as  they 


I4  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

arc,  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  are  all  established,  as  they  must 
be,  if  at  all,  in  precisely  the  same  way  as  facts  in  regard  to  any  other 
historical  character;  as,  Julius  Caesar,  Alexander,  Socrates,  Plato, 
Cromwell,  and  others,  only  with  far  greater  certainty.  The  records 
of  his  life,  written  by  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John,  and  to  some 
extent  by  Paul,  regarded  simply  as  any  other  historical  documents, 
and  entirely  apart  from  any  thought  of  their  relation  to  the  Bible, 
as  they  must  be  in  matters  so  momentous, — considered  simply  as 
secular  or  profane  history,  on  the  same  footing  with  it, — these 
records  have  been  subjected  to  the  severest  imaginable  tests,  and  to 
the  fires  of  a  remorseless  criticism,  as  no  other  records  ever  were, 
and  this  for  ages ;  and  yet,  so  strong  have  they  proved  themselves 
to  be,  that  some  of  the  most  able  and  determined  opponents  of  the 
inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  and  of  the  supernatural  have  been 
constrained  to  acknowledge  them  as  truly  historical  and  entitled  to 
credit  on  grounds  entirely  apart  from  any  theory  of  inspiration. 

This  would  seem  to  be  conclusive  in  regard  to  the 
historical  basis  of  the  Christian  faith.  It  is  faith  in  a 
great  history.  It  is  a  religion  which  rests  upon  historic 
facts.  Nor  is  it  limited  to  those  facts  which  are  set  forth 
in  the  few  conceded  historic  books  of  the  New  Testament, 
although  these  are  adequate  to  establish  the  historic 
character  of  Christianity.  Properly  regarded,  this  history 
reaches  back  through  prophets,  sages,  kings  and  patri- 
archs, to  the  time  of  the  earliest  annals  extant,  and 
includes  whatsoever  in  the  Old  Testament  relates  to  the 
Christ  of  history  by  way  of  anticipation,  or  whatever, 
outside  of  the  conceded  historic  books  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, in  any  way  refers  to  the  fulfilment  of  those  predic- 
tions. What  is  more,  the  Christian  faith  alone,  of  all 
the  religions  of  the  wrorld,  is  primarily  a  religion  of  his- 
toric facts,  and  it  alone  can  successfully  challenge  the 
most  searching  investigation. 

We  see,  therefore,  how  comprehensive,  how  strong  and 
unassailable  this  historical  argument  or  foundation  is, 
and  how  by  accepting  it,  without  in  any  way  disparaging 
the  sacred  volume,  or  the  fact  of  inspiration,  we  are 
relieved  of  many  painful  and  constantly  recurring  embar- 
rassments. 

The  validity  and  importance  of  the  experimental  proof, 
or  confirmation,  have  been  recognized  and  appreciated  in 


BASIS  OF  CHRISTIAN  FAITH  ^ 

a  growing  degree  especially  since  it  was  set  forth  and 
emphasized  at  the  beginning  of  the  century  by  Schleier- 
macher  of  Berlin.  His  argument  is  really  the  argument 
of  the  early  New  England  fathers.  It  is  based  upon  the 
warranted  assumption  that  the  experiences  of  the  indi- 
vidual soul  are  as  valid  evidence  in  the  sphere  of  religion 
as  are  material  facts  in  the  realm  of  nature.  If  a  man 
is  conscious  of  a  new  power  or  force  imparted  to  him 
through  prayer  to  Christ  and  faith  in  him,  by  virtue  of 
which  he  is  enabled  to  live  righteously,  soberly,  godly, 
as  he  could  not  otherwise  do,  that  is  a  fact  of  experience, 
and  it  is  to  be  reckoned  as  such.  If  the  same  experience 
comes  to  another  person,  the  reality  of  the  experience  of 
the  first  is  thereby  confirmed.  If  now  this  experience  is 
testified  to  by  others,  by  all,  indeed,  who  have  fulfilled 
the  conditions  upon  which  this  spiritual  power  is  prom- 
ised, and  this  not  in  one  age  simply  or  by  one  class  or 
race  of  people,  but  by  all  classes  and  in  all  ages,  the 
testimony  as  to  the  reality  of  the  experience  and  of  the 
spiritual  force  accompanying  it  would  seem  to  be  undeni- 
able. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  whenever  one  does  receive  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  in  good  faith,  and  allows  it  freely 
to  operate  within  him — i.  e.,  whenever  one  does  as  the 
New  Testament  tells  him  to  do,  turns  from  sin  and  enters 
upon  a  life  of  obedience  to  Christ — he  at  once  experi- 
ences a  sense  of  God's  forgiving  love;  there  is  no  longer 
any  condemnation;  the  grace  of  God  is  imparted  to  him, 
just  as  the  New  Testament  declares.  By  means  of  this 
grace,  he  is  able  to  gain  victories  over  self  and  evil  habit; 
his  life  is  gradually  transformed  morally;  he  becomes 
superior  to  trial,  is  buoyed  up  in  sorrow,  is  girded  for  the 
endurance  of  all  manner  of  hardships;  he  is  inspired  for 
service,  his  deeper  cravings  are  satisfied,  his  soul's  aspira- 
tions are  met;  the  graces  of  the  Spirit  are  developed  in 
him ;  old  things  pass  away,  all  things  become  new.  These 
are  some  of  the  fruits  or  practical  results  of  the  grace 


1 6  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

of  God  when  it  is  received  into  one's  heart  and  life 
through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

The  same  or  similar  results  are  experienced  by  others 
who  follow  the  same  directions  or  fulfil  the  same  con- 
ditions. It  is  so  to-day,  it  has  been  so  ever  since  the 
glad  tidings  were  first  announced,  and  it  has  been  so 
among  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men  in  all  parts 
of  the  earth.  This  gospel  is  distinctly  traceable  to  the 
time  of  Christ,  to  Christ  himself  as  its  author,  who  first 
announced  it  to  men.  Thus  the  reality  of  the  grace  of 
God,  the  truth  of  the  religion  and  teachings  of  Christ, 
the  uniform  character  of  the  results  produced  in  those 
who  receive  the  gospel,  are  confirmed  by  experience,  and 
the  deeper  and  more  thorough  this  experience  is,  the 
more  clearly  are  the  truths  of  the  New  Testament  teach- 
ings and  the  reality  of  the  Christian  religion  demon- 
strated. 

This  proof,  like  that  from  history,  is  more  compre- 
hensive than  might  at  first  appear.  It  includes  every- 
thing which  relates  to  men's  experience  of  Christ  simply 
as  a  teacher,  which  is  all  that  some  admit  him  to  be,  as  well 
as  that  which  relates  to  men's  experience  when  they 
receive  him  as  their  only  Saviour  from  sin.  Experience 
also  proves  the  perfect  adaptedness  of  the  Christian 
religion  to  all  the  profounder  needs  of  human  nature,  and 
thus  meets  the  most  exacting  demands  of  man's  nature  as 
a  rational  being. 

Does  all  this  signify  nothing?  Must  all  this  go  for 
naught  ?  Rather  does  it  not  signify  everything  ?  Accept- 
ing the  reality  and  the  validity  of  this  internal  evidence, 
and  its  correspondence  with  and  confirmation  of  the 
external  or  historical  proofs  of  Christianity,  how  can  we 
longer  doubt  the  truth  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  or 
that  in  it  we  have  the  one  and  only  heaven-designed 
provision  for  the  profounder  needs  of  man,  or  of  his 
spiritual  nature?  In  short,  what  no  other  religion  has 
ever  been  able  to  do  for  man,  what  no  philosophy  has  ever 


BASIS  OF  CHRISTIAN  FAITH  if 

accomplished,  the  religion  of  Christ  is  doing,  and  has 
been  doing,  since  the  time  when  it  was  first  introduced 
into  the  world.  Thus  it  is  shown  to  be  the  only  effective 
remedy  or  antidote  for  sin  which  has  ever  been  made 
known,  even  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation;  to  be 
perfectly  adapted  to  the  needs  of  universal  human  nature. 
Thus  is  it  manifestly  the  one  religion  which  is  destined 
ultimately  to  prevail  over  all  the  earth.  Occasional  testi- 
mony here  and  there  to  the  effect  that  all  this  has  been 
tried  without  such  results,  is  to  be  taken,  if  at  all,  as 
exceptional,  with  the  moral  certainty  that  some  essential 
condition  has  been  lacking. 

Thus  we  have  the  two-fold,  complementary,  unassail- 
able proof,  the  outer  and  the  inner,  the  historical  and  the 
experimental,  of  the  reality,  the  effectiveness,  the  divine 
origin,  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  Here  we  have 
the  solid  foundation,  the  broad,  all-inclusive,  ultimate 
basis  upon  which  the  Christian  faith  and  the  Christian 
system  rest.  Thus  we  see  that  although  the  position 
which  men  formerly  took,  with  the  inspired  Bible  for  a 
basis,  was  so  strong  as  to  resist  all  efforts  to  overthrow 
it  for  more  than  seventeen  centuries,  the  position  which 
we  have  taken,  on  the  basis  of  history  and  experience, 
the  Jesus  of  history  being  the  chief  corner-stone,  is  so 
strong  that  it  stands  secure,  its  enemies  even  being  judges. 
In  the  light  of  all  this,  it  is  not  strange  perhaps  that 
modern  infidel  writers  and  platform  lecturers  and  hostile 
critics  on  the  streets  evade,  or  take  care  not  to  recognize, 
even  if  they  understand,  the  vital  point  at  issue. 

With  these  questions  as  to  the  foundation  of  Christian- 
ity settled,  and  other  cumulative  proofs  ranging-  them- 
selves about  them,  or  upon  them,  let  any  one  in  sincerity 
and  in  truth  but  fasten  his  gaze  upon  the  person  of 
Christ  thus  historically  revealed,  whose  religion  is 
experimentally  confirmed, — upon  his  sinless  character,  his 
marvelous  power,  his  mighty  works,  his  self-sacrificing 


1 1 


iS  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

love,  his  resurrection,  and  his  ascension  to  heaven,  it  will 
be  strange,  indeed,  if  one  is  not,  like  multitudes  before 
him,  overwhelmed  with  conviction,  and  constrained,  as 
was  the  doubting  disciple  of  old,  to  cry  out,  "My  Lord  and 
my  God." 

We  are  now  prepared  to  notice  some  of  the  practical 
advantages  growing  out  of  a  recognition  of  these  facts, 
and  of  the  transference  of  the  main  defence  of  Christian- 
ity to  the  citadel  of  history  and  experience : — 

1.  The  first  advantage  is,  that  even  if  some  of  the 
theories  of  inspiration  which  have  prevailed,  especially 
the  verbal  theory,  viz.,  that  every  word  and  letter  and 
dot  of  the  text  of  Scripture  was  dictated  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  such  a  way  that  the  writer  himself  was  little 
else  than  a  machine,  a  typewriter,  a  stenographer,  making 
use  of  no  powers  or  faculties  of  his  own,  simply  transcrib- 
ing or  copying  what  was  given  him,  the  human  element 
being  thus  practically  left  out  of  the  account — even  if  this 
view  could  not  be  sustained   (few  now  assert  it),  we 
should  still  be  secure;  there  would  be  no  occasion  for  dis- 
turbance.    Our  faith  rests  upon  something  more  firm  and 
unchanging  than  any  single  dogma  or  theory. 

2.  Again,  even  if  it  should  be  proven  that  the  authen- 
ticity of  some  clause,  or  verse,  or  passage,  or  chapter,  or 
even  book  of  the  present  Scripture  collection  cannot  be 
maintained;  or  if  errors  or  discrepancies  or  wrong  num- 
bers or  dates  should  be  pointed  out;  or  if  the  historicity 
of  certain  Old  Testament  narratives  should  no  longer  be 
upheld,  even  then  no  one  would  have  occasion  for  anxiety. 
Our  faith  does  not  rest  upon  the  verbal  accuracy  of  every 
word  or  passage  of  Scripture.     It  rests,  rather,  upon  the 
solid  rock  of  historic  fact  and  experimental  confirmation 
of  that  fact.     So  long  as  this  two-fold  proof  cannot  be 
set  aside,  we  need  not  let  go  our  confidence  in  Christ,  or 
surrender  any  of  the  hopes  which  his  words  of  promise 
have  awakened.      It  is  well  to  guard  ourselves  against 


BASIS  OF  CHRISTIAN  FAITH  ig 

allowing  these  merely  minor  and  secondary  questions, 
which  have  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the  real  essence 
of  Scripture,  so  to  fill  our  thought  as  to  prevent  a  proper 
appreciation  of  that  which  is  vital. 

3.  This  position  gives  us  every  advantage  in  meeting 
the  opponents  of  Christianity  or  of  the  Scriptures.     The 
majority  of  the  objections  they  urge  are  simply  such  as 
have  been  urged  time  and  again  in  the  ages  past,  and  as 
often  refuted.      It  is  rare  that  any  really  new  objection  is 
raised.     But  not  every  Christian  may  have  answers  ready 
when  the  difficulties  are  presented.       Nor  is  it  necessary 
that  he  should.      It  by  no  means  follows  that  these  diffi- 
culties cannot  be  met,  because  a  particular  Christian  may 
not  be  able  to  meet  them.      Only  a  Biblical  scholar,  with 
the  most  complete  equipment,  is  able  to  cover  the  whole 
ground  in  his  thought.      Suppose,  for  instance,  one  were 
to  be  pressed  with  difficulties  about  the  exterminating 
wars  of  the  Jews,   or  the   deluge,   or  the  imprecatory 
psalms,  or  about  David's  morality  or  lack  of  it,  or  about 
slavery  and  polygamy  in  Old  Testament  times,  or  about 
the  sun's  standing  still,  or  about  the  book  of  Jonah,  he  can 
simply   say   that   these   questions   have   nothing  to   do, 
necessarily,  with  the  real  foundation  of  his  faith.     These 
objections,  important  as  it  may  be  to  answer  them,  do  not, 
after  all,  touch  the  main  question.      They  are  merely  side 
issues.      One  may  tell  his  opponents  to  criticize  the  char- 
acter of  Jesus  Christ,  if  they  feel  competent  to  do  so;  or 
the  historic  records  concerning  him;  or  to  invalidate  the 
argument  from  Christian  experience.       So  long  as  the 
Christ  of  history  remains,  and  his  religion  continues  to 
produce  the  same  results  in  human  experience  as  in  the 
past,  the  arguments  and  objections  of  unbelievers  are  of 
little  consequence. 

4.  There  is  encouragement  here  for  such  as  desire  to 
be  numbered  among  the  followers  of  Christ,  but  who  are 
honestly  perplexed  over  many  things  pertaining  to  the 
Scriptures.       For  the  terms  of  salvation  agree  perfectly 


20  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

with  what  has  been  said.  It  is  nowhere  stated  that  one 
must  believe  the  Bible,  or  everything  in  the  Bible,  in  order 
to  be  saved.  There  are  good  and  sufficient  reasons  for 
accepting  the  Scriptures,  as  we  have  them,  but  this  is 
not  the  condition  of  salvation.  It  is  over  and  over  again 
declared,  " Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved."  It  is  important  to  get  Christ  disentangled,  so 
to  speak,  in  our  thought,  from  all  creeds,  even  from  the 
Bible  itself,  so  that  he  stand  out  distinctly  and  apart  from 
everything  else  before  the  mind.  When  one  succeeds  in 
doing  this,  the  whole  matter  of  the  gospel  and  of  personal 
religion  is  greatly  simplified.  Sometimes,  indeed,  the 
experience  comes  to  the  soul  with  the  force  of  a  fresh 
revelation  from  heaven.  The  essential  thing,  first  of  all, 
is  to  believe  on  and  to  obey  the  personal  Jesus  Christ. 

To  say  this  is  not  to  disparage  the  Word  of  God,  or 
anything  contained  in  it.  In  more  highly  exalting  Christ, 
who  is  the  central  figure  of  the  Bible,  the  central  character 
of  history,  and  the  moral  luminary  of  the  world,  we  none 
the  less  appreciate  the  Scriptures,  which  give  us  the  his- 
torical account  of  him,  furnishing  us  with  the  settings  of 
the  picture,  constantly  pointing  to  him,  and  presenting 
to  us  his  teachings.  We  are  simply  calling  attention  to 
the  facts  in  the  case.  The  effort  is  to  relieve  the  minds 
of  any  who  find  a  stumbling-block  at  the  very  threshold 
of  the  Christian  life  in  the  fancy  that  it  is  required  of 
them,  as  perhaps  the  essential  and  vital  thing,  to  believe 
a  long  line  of  particulars,  extending  from  the  first  man 
to  the  consummation  of  all  things.  This  is  a  serious  mis- 
apprehension of  the  real  truth  of  the  matter.  No  one 
need  trouble  himself,  at  the  outset,  with  any  of  these 
perplexing  questions,  or  about  the  immoralities  which 
prevailed  in  the  twilight  of  the  race.  All  these  questions 
may  be  dismissed  from  the  thought.  The  true  starting- 
point  of  investigation  is  to  satisfy  oneself  as  to  the  histori- 
cal reliability  of  the  record,  and  the  experimental  reality 
of  the  Christian  faith.  The  vital  thing  for  salvation,  first 


BASIS  OF  CHRISTIAN  FAITH  2I 

of  all,  is  personal  union  with,  and  loyalty  to,  the  personal 
Christ.  All  through  the  New  Testament  the  personal 
Christ  is  held  up  as  the  object  of  faith  and  obedience. 
Let  one  but  yield  himself  in  loving,  trusting  self-sur- 
render to  him,  to  the  Christ  of  the  Gospels  and  of  history, 
and  all  the  rest  which  is  really  important  will  in  due 
time  be  made  plain.  "If  any  man  willeth  to  do  his 
will,  he  shall  know  of  the  teaching."  And  even  if 
one's  difficulties  are  never  all  solved,  even  though  inter- 
rogation-points continue  to  be  scattered  all  over  the  Bible 
field,  nevertheless  he  will  be  sure  of  his  foundation,  for 
his  feet  will  be  planted  on  the  Rock  of  Ages. 

5.  A  final  advantage  to  be  noted  is  this,  that  a  general 
recognition  of  this  historic  and  experimental  basis  as  the 
ultimate  foundation  of  Christian  faith,  with  the  Christ  of 
history  as  its  central  figure,  would  do  rriuch  to  remove 
long-standing  obstacles  to  Christian  union  and  help 
greatly  to  promote  it. 

As  compared  with  this  all-important  question,  such 
questions,  for  instance,  as  those  relating  to  church  polity, 
which  has  been  a  leading  factor  in  keeping  Christendom 
divided;  or  to  the  sacraments  and  mode  of  observing 
them,  which  ought  long  ago  to  have  been  relegated  to  the 
realm  of  individual  liberty;  or  to  theological  distinctions, 
whose  importance  has  been  greatly  exaggerated; — the 
relative  minor  consequence  of  such  questions  as  these,  im- 
portant as  they  may  be  in  their  place,  would  more  and 
more  clearly  appear.  A  large  liberty  of  opinion  might 
be  safely  permissible  in  regard  to  other  things,  if  men 
were  thoroughly  agreed  in  regard  to  their  relation  to  the 
personal  Christ.  Other  questions  have  their  place  and 
their  importance;  this  has  a  central  place,  and  is  all- 
important.  With  the  truth  recognized  that  Jesus  Christ, 
the  central  fact  of  human  history,  is  the  divine  Son  of 
God,  the  moral  and  spiritual  luminary  of  the  world,  the 
final  authority  in  things  spiritual,  the  only  hope  for  all 
mankind,  apart  from  whom  none  can  be  saved,  all  the 


22  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

great  doctrines  of  the  Christian  system  would  assume 
their  relative  positions,  while  upon  this  broad  basis 
Christian  people  everywhere,  of  whatever  name,  might,  if 
they  would,  stand  together,  presenting  an  unbroken  front 
to  the  world ;  might  cooperate  together  in  aggressive  serv- 
ice, going  forward  in  battle  array,  with  mighty,  ever- 
increasing  moral  and  spiritual  momentum,  to  destroy  the 
works  of  the  devil  and  to  build  up  the  kingdom  of  God;  a 
power  which  nothing  could  withstand,  and  the  time  would 
not  be  remote  when  He,  whose  right  it  is,  would  every- 
where be  recognized  and  reign  supreme  as  King  of  kings, 
and  Lord  of  lords. 


II 

POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS  AS  TO  THE  BIBLE 

Conspicuous  among  the  large  historical  paintings  which 
adorn  the  Parliament  building  at  London,  is  one  repre- 
senting the  departure  of  the  Pilgrims  on  their  voyage 
across  the  Atlantic,  to  seek  a  home  and  religious  liberty 
in  a  new  and  untried  land.  Very  noticeable  in  the  fore- 
front and  center  of  the  picture  is  an  open  volume.  That 
volume  is  the  Bible,  devotion  to  whose  principles 
prompted  the  hazardous  journey  of  those  early  fathers, 
and  nerved  them  to  heroic  endurance  of  its  hardships  and 
trials.  In  the  Capitol  at  Washington  is  another  paint- 
ing which  represents  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  on  these 
inhospitable  shores.  The  same  book — significant  and 
prophetic  fact! — is  still  in  the  forefront;  a  book  whose 
principles  lie  at  the  foundation,  as  they  also  constitute  the 
framework,  of  the  Christian  civilization  which  these  Pil- 
grims were  instrumental  in  establishing  in  this  country. 

Wonderful  as  this  book  is,  and  marvelous  as  has  been 
its  history;  a  book  which  seeks  and  promotes  the  highest 
welfare  of  men,  so  easy  of  comprehension  that  he  who 
runs  may  read;  a  book  which  is  more  loved  and  revered 
than  any  other,  and  for  which  multitudes  would  go  to  the 
stake :  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  no  book  is  more  misun- 
derstood than  the  Bible,  none  is  the  object  of  more 
unthinking  prejudice,  none  is  more  bitterly  hated.  Why 
is  this  ? 

First  of  all  is  a  lack  of  acquaintance  with  the  contents 
of  the  Bible,  and  a  consequent  lack  of  appreciation  of  its 
spirit  and  aim.  The  knowledge  of  many  persons  re- 
specting the  sacred  Word  is  gathered  from  flippant,  in- 
discriminating  and  hostile  talk  about  it  on  the  streets; 

23 


24  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

from  misrepresentations  and  caricatures  on  the  platform 
and  in  the  press,  made  by  those  who  are  never  weary  of 
holding  up  crude  and  obsolete  beliefs  to  ridicule;  from  the 
extreme  views  of  narrow-minded  though  well  disposed 
believers,  who  are  far  from  representing  the  consensus  of 
opinion  of  the  great  body  of  intelligent  Christian  people, 
or  the  latest  results  of  the  ripest  Christian  scholarship. 
It  is  from  such  sources  as  these  that  many  of  these  critics 
of  the  Bible  obtain  their  stock  in  trade;  upon  them  many 
of  the  prevailing  misconceptions  respecting  the  sacred 
Word  are  based.  They  spring  not  from  a  personal 
knowledge  of  its  contents,  but  rather,  if  one  may  so  say, 
from  personal  ignorance  of  them. 

Another  source  of  misconception  and  of  unbelief  as  re- 
lated to  the  Bible  is  to  be  found  in  a  not  unnatural  re- 
bound of  the  mind,  when  it  begins  to  think  for  itself,  from 
the  traditional  beliefs,  bordering  upon  superstition,  if  not 
actually  superstitious,  which  one  has  been  taught  to 
cherish,  to  the  opposite  and  equally  unreasonable  extreme 
of  believing  little  or  nothing  at  all.  Instead  of  seeking  a 
golden  mean  of  truth,  one  determines  to  part  company 
with  all  religious  belief,  although  this  last  position  is 
as  irrational  as  the  first.  Illustrations  of  this  experience 
appear  among  those  reared  in  the  Mormon  faith,  with  its 
spurious  "revelations"  to  one  Joseph  Smith.  Among 
those  trained  in  other  faiths  in  which  there  is  more  or  less 
of  a  superstitious  element,  or  in  homes  or  surroundings 
where  unreasonably  rigid  and  severe  religious  views  have 
prevailed,  many  pass  through  a  similar  experience. 

The  hostility  of  another  class  is  to  be  traced  directly  to 
a  wicked  heart.  The  Bible  everywhere  insists  upon 
purity  of  character  and  righteousness  of  life;  is  in  deadly 
opposition  to  sin  of  every  kind ;  points  out  the  danger  and 
the  penalty  of  violating  God's  law.  Chafing  under  re- 
straint, loving  darkness  rather  than  light,  men  often  blind 
their  eyes  to  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  and  set  themselves 
violently  against  them. 


MISCONCEPTIONS  OF   THE  BIBLE  2$ 

Ignorance  of  what  the  Bible  contains,  mental  rebound 
from  early  servitude  to  beliefs  which  are  unwarranted  to 
an  equally  unreasonable  opposite  extreme,  and  a  down- 
right wickedness  of  heart  which  chafes  under  restraint, 
these  are  the  causes  of  much  of  the  misconception,  pre- 
judice and  hostility  against  the  Word  of  God. 

These  misconceptions  are  of  every  variety  and  are  well- 
nigh  numberless.  Thus  it  is  said  that  the  Bible  stands 
in  the  way  of  human  progress,  civilization,  intellectual 
culture;  that  it  supports  and  encourages  slavery, 
polygamy  and  kindred  evils;  in  general  has  an  immoral 
tendency ;  that  there  is  claimed  for  it  an  infallibility  which 
extends  to  every  particle,  and  an  inspiration  which 
reaches  to  every  dot  and  every  letter  and  every  word, 
embracing  also  the  division  into  chapter  and  verse,  and 
even  the  headings  of  the  chapter;  that  it  abounds  in  dis- 
crepancies and  contradictions;  that  it  claims  that  in  the 
completeness  in  which  it  was  given  to  men  there  is  no 
place  for  a  human  element  in  its  composition;  that  it  is 
therefore  an  unreal  book,  having  little  relation  to  practical 
life;  that  its  prophecies  set  forth  the  entire  future  of  the 
world's  history,  down  to  its  minutest  details ;  that  all  parts 
of  the  Bible  are  equally  inspired,  equally  important,  and 
that  salvation  hinges  upon  an  unhesitating  acceptance  of 
everything  which  it  contains. 

By  setting  forth  a  few  facts  concerning  the  origin  and 
composition  of  the  Bible,  its  alleged  mysteries  and  moral 
difficulties,  and  by  pointing  out  the  true  criterion  by  which 
to  judge  of  its  practical  value,  many  of  the  widely  spread 
misconceptions  in  reference  to  its  nature  may  be  corrected. 

i.  First  of  all,  it  is  important  clearly  to  understand 
just  why  God  reveals  himself  to  men;  what  the  authentic 
record  of  this  revelation  is;  what  are  its  real  object  and 
aim.  If  one  enters  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  supposing  it  to  be 
a  dwelling-house,  an  arsenal,  or  a  workshop,  one  can 
neither  interpret  its  arrangement  nor  properly  judge  of 
its  fitness  to  the  end  designed.  One  does  not  know 


26  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

what  that  end  is.  Starting  with  the  wrong  idea,  one's 
conceptions  are  of  course  erroneous.  Only  as  one  regards 
the  structure,  with  its  altars  and  chapels  and  various  ap- 
pointments, in  the  light  of  the  fact  that  it  is  a  cathedral, 
and  that  it  is  intended  for  certain  religious  ends,  can  one 
appreciate  it,  or  form  any  proper  judgment  respecting  it. 
So  no  one  can  interpret  the  Bible  aright,  save  as  one  conies 
to  it  with  some  adequate  conception  of  its  purpose. 
Otherwise,  one  has  no  business  to  attempt  to  interpret  it, 
least  of  all  to  palm  off  one's  own  conclusions  as  authori- 
tative for  the  misleading  of  others. 

What,  then,  is  the  design  of  revelation,  or  of  the  Bible, 
which  is  the  record  of  that  revelation?  The  Bible  no- 
where claims  to  be  a  scientific  text-book  or  treatise,  a 
manual  or  authority  upon  philosophy,  poetry,  literature, 
or  astronomy,  although  it  makes  frequent  references  to 
them  all.  Its  purpose  is  moral  and  spiritual.  It  was 
designed  to  reveal  God  and  his  will  to  men.  It  was 
given  to  teach  men  how  to  lead  spiritual  lives,  to  present 
the  motives  for  leading  them,  and  for  abandoning  every 
form  of  wrong-doing  and  unholy  thinking;  for  being 
obedient  to  God,  righteous  and  kind  in  all  human  rela- 
tions. The  Bible  was  given  to  promote  the  highest  wel- 
fare of  men  in  this  life,  by  showing  them  how  to  avoid  its 
perils  and  its  disasters,  and  how  to  secure  for  themselves 
an  abundant  entrance  into  the  more  glorious  life  to  come. 
This  is  what  the  Bible  is  for,  primarily.  To  this  end  it 
was  given,  for  this  purpose  it  was  inspired,  and  in  this 
respect  we  believe  it  to  be  infallible.  Anything  aside 
from  this  main  purpose  is  incidental  and  secondary.  The 
poetry  and  philosophy,  the  geology  and  astronomy  of  the 
Bible,  are  of  minor  importance.  Were  errors  in  some  of 
these  departments  to  be  proven,  this  would  in  no  degree 
invalidate  the  authority  of  the  Bible  in  moral  and  spiritual 
things.  Whether  there  are  or  are  not  errors  or  dis- 
crepancies in  the  Scriptures  is  an  open  question. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  many  of  these  so-called 


MISCONCEPTIONS  OF   THE  BIBLE  2/ 

errors  are  not  difficult  of  explanation.  Some  of  them 
may  be  attributed  to  faulty  translations.  Others  arise 
from  mistakes  in  transcription  by  hand,  which  was  the 
only  method  of  multiplying  copies  of  the  Bible  prior  to 
the  invention  of  printing.  In  other  cases  still,  a  more 
complete  acquaintance  with  all  the  circumstances  would 
establish  the  essential  accuracy  of  the  Scripture  statement. 
For  example,  it  is  reported  in  one  of  the  four  Gospels,  that 
Christ  ascended  from  Olivet ;  in  another,  that  it  was  from 
Bethany.  But  Bethany  was  a  village  on  the  eastern  slope 
of  Mount  Olivet.  Thus  it  was  from  Olivet  in  either 
case  that  the  ascension  took  place.  This  is  but  one  of 
numerous  instances  in  which  a  larger  knowledge  of  the 
facts  would  effectually  dispose  of  charges  of  discrepancy 
and  contradiction  in  Biblical  statements. 

If,  from  the  sum  total  of  these  supposed  errors  which 
are  charged  up  against  the  Scriptures,  we  deduct  all 
which  may  be  easily  explained,  the  number  remaining  will 
be  exceedingly  small.  More  than  this,  the  supposed 
errors  themselves  will  appear  to  be  exceedingly  trivial. 
Nor  is  it  impossible  that,  as  time  advances  and  knowledge 
increases,  the  remaining  errors,  or  most  of  them,  and  all 
other  difficulties  for  which  as  yet  no  satisfactory  solution 
has  been  discovered,  may  be  explained.  In  any  event, 
the  authority  of  the  Bible  with  respect  to  moral  and  spiri- 
tual ends,  which  constitutes  its  declared  object,  will  remain 
undisturbed.  It  is  in  the  light  of  this  purpose  that  the 
Scriptures  are  to  be  studied  and  interpreted.  Entering 
upon  the  study  of  the  Bible  with  a  sympathetic 
and  reverent  spirit,  one  will  be  surprised  at  the 
rapidity  with  which  difficulties  vanish,  and  will  perceive 
the  absurdity  of  the  dictum  that  one  must  believe  every- 
thing within  its  lids  or  expose  one's  soul  to  the  peril  of 
everlasting  perdition.  There  are  good  and  sufficient 
reasons  for  accepting  the  Word  of  God  as  we  have  it,  but 
that  is  by  no  means  the  condition  of  salvation.  The  one 
and  only  condition  of  salvation  is  repentance  and  faith — 


2&  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

repentance,  or  a  turning  from  sin  in  full  purpose  of  heart 
and  faith,  or  a  turning  to  Jesus  Christ  in  obedience  and 
trust. 

2.  Not  a  few  misconceptions  respecting  the  Bible 
would  be  removed  by  an  intelligent  recognition  of  the 
method  which  God  employed  in  revealing  himself  and  his 
will  to  men.  This  method  was  to  adapt  himself  to  human 
conditions  and  limitations.  From  time  to  time,  and  with 
gradually  increasing  clearness,  he  made  known  his  will 
through  "holy  men  of  old,"  who  "spake  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit."  This  he  did  in  connection 
with  the  circumstances  and  as  growing  out  of  the  needs 
of  the  times  in  which  the  Scripture  writers  lived.  Some- 
times this  revelation  had  reference  to  local  and  temporary 
conditions,  sometimes  great  principles  of  universal  appli- 
cation were  set  forth,  yet  all  had  direct  or  indirect  relation 
to  God's  ultimate  purpose  of  human  redemption.  It 
was  made  in  its  completeness  in  the  fulness  of  time,  or 
when  the  world  was  ripe  for  it,  in  the  person  of  God's 
Son,  Jesus  Christ.  "God,  having  of  old  time  spoken  unto 
the  fathers  in  the  prophets  by  divers  portions  and  in  divers 
manners,  hath  at  the  end  of  these  days  spoken  unto  us  in 
his  Son,"  who  was  "the  effulgence  of  his  glory,  and  the 
very  image  of  his  substance"  (Heb.  1:1-3).  In  the  Bible 
we  have  an  authentic  account  or  record  of  this  gradual 
or  progressive  revelation  of  God  to  men. 

The  men  through  whom  God  thus  spoke  in  different 
periods  were  of  differing  occupations,  temperaments  and 
degrees  of  culture.  These  differences  are  manifest  in  the 
literary  quality  and  style  of  their  utterances  or  writings. 
Thus  there  is  a  human  element  in  the  Bible  as  well  as  a 
divine.  Its  origin  was  from  above,  in  the  thought  and 
purpose  of  God,  but  its  composition  was  upon  earth,  grew 
out  of  earthly  conditions,  and  was  by  men  of  like  passions 
with  ourselves.  This  assertion  is  not  entirely  in  har- 
mony with  the  view  that  the  Bible,  as  we  have  it,  even  our 
English  version  of  it,  with  its  headings  and  divisions  into 


MISCONCEPTIONS  OF   THE  BIBLE  29 

chapters  and  verses,  came  directly  and  unchanged  from 
the  hand  of  God.  Yet  with  all  their  differences  and 
peculiarities,  each  of  these  men  spoke  or  wrote  under  the 
impulse  of  the  divine  Spirit.  This  insured  the  marvelous 
unity  of  the  Scriptures  in  moral  and  spiritual  matters,  in 
spite  of  diversity  of  authorship  and  the  topics  under  con- 
sideration. 

So  far  as  known,  no  one  of  the  original  documents  of 
the  Scriptures  in  which  this  revelation  of  God  is  embodied 
is  now  in  existence,  yet  so  many  copies  of  them  were  made 
from  time  to  time  before  the  invention  of  printing,  and 
preserved,  that  it  is  possible  without  difficulty,  and  in 
spite  of  any  slight  errors  which  may  have  accidentally 
crept  in  through  the  transcribing  processes,  to  determine 
the  original  text  especially  of  the  New  Testament  with  an 
almost  assured  certainty.  Whether  there  were  or  were 
not  errors  in  the  original  documents  themselves,  it  is  of 
course  impossible  to  know. 

It  has  been  the  work  of  men  to  divide  the  Bible  into 
chapters  and  verses.  Although  these  divisions  are  not 
in  every  instance  strictly  natural  or  logical,  no  serious 
inconvenience  has  followed  from  this.  From  time  to 
time  translations  of  the  Bible  from  the  Greek  and  Hebrew 
tongues,  in  which  it  was  originally  written,  into  other  lan- 
guages have  appeared.  Some  of  these  translations  have 
become  historic.  Though  not  always  entirely  accurate 
in  every  particular,  they  have,  as  linguistic  knowledge  in- 
creased, brought  us  closer  and  closer  to  the  mind  of  God. 
The  revision,  in  recent  years,  of  the  common  English  or 
King  James'  version,  is  an  advance  upon  all  previous 
translations,  and,  although  there  is  still  room  for  improve- 
ment, this  revision  is  a  great  work,  and  its  value  will  be 
more  and  more  appreciated  as  the  years  pass.  The  lack 
of  anything  in  the  printed  page  of  the  old  version  to  in- 
dicate the  poetic  sections  in  which  the  Bible  abounds  is 
in  part,  though  not  entirely,  remedied  in  the  new  version. 

3.     A  recognition  of  the  principle  of  the  gradualness 


30  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

or  the  progressive  character  of  God's  revelation  of  moral 
and  spiritual  truth  to  men  would  furnish  a  key  to  the 
solution  of  many  of  the  so-called  moral  difficulties  of  the 
Bible. 

The  claim  made  by  some  is  that  the  Old  Testament 
teaches  and  endorses  slavery,  polygamy,  and  other  great 
evils.  Such  charges  as  these  have  proved  an  embarrass- 
ment to  many  Christian  people,  have  often  been 
stumbling-blocks  to  honest  seekers  after  the  truth,  and 
have  furnished  occasion  for  sneering  criticism  and  con- 
tempt of  the  Bible  on  the  part  of  many  of  its  foes. 

But  what  consistency  or  common  sense  is  there  in  ap- 
plying the  standards  of  our  age,  with  its  noon-day  blaze  of 
sunlight  upon  moral  questions,  to  the  conduct  of  men 
who  lived  thousands  of  years  ago  in  a  dim  moral  twilight? 
The  race  in  its  infancy  was  not  prepared  to  receive  or  ap- 
preciate the  full  disclosure  of  moral  and  spiritual  truth, 
any  more  than  the  children  of  a  family  in  their  immaturity 
can  do  so  now.  Men  in  the  early  period  of  the  race  were 
but  children  in  moral  and  spiritual  things,  and  this  fact 
was  taken  into  account  in  all  God's  dealings  with  them. 
This  is  made  plain  in  the  Old  Testament  record.  For  a 
long  time  it  was  necessary  to  overlook  many  things  in 
men's  conduct  which  would  not  be  passed  by  when  they 
were  more  mature.  The  times  of  that  early  ignorance, 
we  are  told,  God  "winked  at,"  i.  e.,  took  little  notice  of,  as 
wise  parents  overlook  many  things  in  their  very  young 
children,  which  they  would  not  disregard  in  the  case  of 
those  older  and  more  mature.  This  was  precisely  God's 
method  of  dealing  with  his  ancient  people  in  their  moral 
childhood.  Many  of  the  evils  which  existed,  and  which 
could  not  be  uprooted  at  once,  were  overlooked  until  the 
people  were  more  enlightened,  or  until  the  fulness  of  time 
should  come,  when  he  would  make  and  they  would  receive 
the  full  revelation  of  himself  and  his  will  in  the  person  of 
his  Son,  Jesus  Christ.  Then  their  evil  ways  would  no 
longer  be  passed  by.  Then  they  would  everywhere  be 


MISCONCEPTIONS  OF  THE  BIBLE  $i 

commanded  to  repent.  In  the  light  of  this  principle  of 
the  gradualness  of  revelation,  and  this  from  necessity,  we 
can  see  how  there  might  be  a  seeming  endorsement  of 
evils,  when  in  reality  there  was  none  whatever. 

Slavery  and  polygamy,  those  twin  evils,  once  existed 
nearly  everywhere.  They  could  not  be  done  away  at  a 
single  stroke,  any  more  than  can  the  evils  of  intemperance 
and  the  liquor-traffic  now.  But  laws  were  made  to  re- 
strain, restrict  and  mitigate  these  evils,  in  the  confident 
expectation  that  the  development  of  higher  ideas  and  a 
better  sentiment  among  men,  which  were  even  then  ger- 
minating, would  in  time,  of  themselves,  work  their 
overthrow.  They  were  not  endorsed  or  encouraged  at 
all.  They  were  only  tolerated  for  the  time  being,  be- 
cause of  the  hardness  of  men's  hearts.  Time  was 
required  for  their  overthrow  then,  as  is  the  case  with  pre- 
vailing evils  now. 

Coming  to  New  Testament  times,  we  find  that  Christ 
did  not  attack  the  evils  of  his  day  directly.  He  did  that 
which  was  wiser  and  better.  He  inculcated  such  ideas 
and  principles  as  would  of  themselves  work  their  over- 
throw in  due  time.  He  thus  quietly  laid  dynamite 
trains,  as  it  were,  under  slavery,  kingcraft,  priestcraft, 
and  all  forms  of  oppression,  and  these  have  been  explod- 
ing all  along  the  centuries,  overwhelming  one  evil  after 
another,  as  they  are  doing  to-day,  and  as  they  will  con- 
tinue to  do  until  every  evil  is  destroyed. 

Thus,  instead  of  upholding  slavery,  polygamy  and 
other  evils,  the  whole  tenor  of  the  teachings  of  the  Bible, 
and  the  entire  spirit  of  it,  are  in  deadly  hostility  to  them 
all.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  wherever  the  Bible  has  been  re- 
ceived and  its  principles  have  been  free  to  assert  them- 
selves, it  has  been  the  mightiest  of  all  agencies  in  under- 
mining and  destroying  evil  of  every  kind. 

4.  It  is  important  to  remember  that  while,  in  unity  of 
aim  and  spirit,  the  Bible  is  but  one  book,  it  is,  at  the  same 
time,  in  reality,  a  library  of  books.  For  the  most  part, 


32  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

each  of  these  books  is  separate  and  distinct  from  all  the 
rest.  Hence,  in  order  clearly  to  understand  them,  each 
must  be  studied  by  itself,  in  its  historical  settings  and  con- 
nections. This  is  especially  true  of  such  books  as  the 
epistles  of  the  New  Testament  and  the  prophetic  books  of 
the  Old  Testament.  The  former  are  letters  written  by 
Paul  and  his  associates.  They  grew  out  of  conditions 
and  needs  then  existing.  In  such  circumstances,  it  is 
plain  that  some  acquaintance  with  those  conditions  is  es- 
sential to  throw  light  upon  their  contents  and  upon 
various  allusions  in  them. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  prophetic  books.  A  knowl- 
edge of  the  circumstances  would  not  only  render  much 
that  is  now  unintelligible  in  them  plain,  it  would  also  do 
much  to  clear  away  existing  misconceptions  in  regard  to 
their  significance  and  application.  They  are  made  up 
largely  of  discourses  or  sermons,  or  condensed  reports  of 
them,  delivered  by  the  prophets  whose  names  they  bear. 
These  discourses  related,  primarily,  to  the  times  and  cir- 
cumstances in  which  the  author  lived,  and  were  called  out 
by  those  circumstances.  The  prophets  were  men  of  their 
own  times,  and  were  actively  related  to  the  events  of  their 
times.  They  were  far  less  concerned  about  the  remote 
future  than  they  were  about  matters  then  present.  Their 
main  function  was  not  to  foretell  events.  It  was  rather 
to  teach,  to  call  men  to  repentance,  and  to  instruct  them  in 
righteousness.  They  interpreted  the  providences  of  God 
as  related  to  their  nation,  and  warned  the  people  against 
his  judgments.  Many  of  these  prophets  were,  in  reality, 
religious  statesmen,  and  their  discourses  were  political 
discourses  delivered  from  a  religious  point  of  view. 

The  purely  predictive  element  in  the  prophetic  writings 
is  much  smaller  than  is  commonly  supposed.  Least  of 
all  was  there  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  writers  to 
unveil  the  entire  future  history  of  the  world,  or  to  set 
forth  in  minute  detail  the  events  of  far  distant  ages.  Yet 
there  are  those  who  insist  that  this  is  the  case,  notably  so 


MISCONCEPTIONS  OF  THE  BIBLE  33 

with  the  book  of  Daniel.  They  declare,  among  other 
things,  that  from  its  symbolisms  and  figures  the  time  of 
the  Second  Advent  and  the  end  of  the  world  may  be  ac- 
curately determined — something  which  Christ  himself, 
when  on  earth,  explicitly  declared  was  beyond  his  own 
knowledge.  It  would  seem  that  the  repeated  and  long- 
continued  ill  success  of  such  interpretations  would  finally 
discourage  further  attempts  of  this  character.  The 
prophets  were  always  looking  forward  to  a  better  state  of 
things.  They  picture  an  ideal  condition  of  society  which 
was  to  be  increasingly  realized.  They  were  in  the  best 
sense  optimistic.  They  believed  that  righteousness  would 
finally  triumph.  These  anticipations  more  and  more 
centered  in  a  Person,  the  Messiah,  who  would  appear  in 
the  fulness  of  time,  by  whom  this  new  and  better  order  of 
things  would  be  inaugurated,  and  through  whom  the  ex- 
alted spiritual  blessings  which  had  long  been  promised  to 
the  descendants  of  Abraham  would  be  imparted.  Some 
of  these  predictions  respecting  the  Messiah  were  fulfilled 
at  the  time  of  his  first  advent;  others  remain  to  be  ful- 
filled in  connection  with  his  promised  second  coming. 
The  fact  of  a  second  coming  is  clearly  taught.  The 
time  and  mode  of  it  are  simply  matters  of  speculation. 

5.  Not  a  few  misconceptions  respecting  the  Bible 
would  be  corrected  by  a  recognition  of  the  distinction, 
which  is  often  overlooked,  between  clearly  taught 
Scripture  facts,  on  the  one  hand,  and  human  theories,  or 
attempted  explanation  of  these  facts,  on  the  other.  Many 
things  are  set  forth  as  facts  in  the  Word  of  God  without 
explanation,  just  as  we  find  great  facts  in  nature,  like  the 
growing  grass  and  the  manifestation  of  life,  which  are 
unexplained,  and  which  are  perhaps  unexplainable.  Men 
have  never  ceased  to  theorize,  as  is  their  privilege,  about 
such  Biblical  facts  as  the  atonement,  inspiration,  the  fu- 
ture life,  but  the  Bible  is  by  no  means  responsible  for  these 
speculations.  The  facts  themselves  are  unchanging,  yet 
men's  theories  respecting  those  facts  have  undergone  re- 


iii 


34  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

peated  modifications;  just  as  the  stars  above  have  re- 
mained essentially  the  same  through  the  ages,  while 
human  speculations  about  them  have  been  subject  to  con- 
stant fluctuations. 

There  are,  for  example,  various  historical  theories  in 
regard  to  the  fact  of  Christ's  atonement.  No  one  of 
these  theories,  by  itself,  may  be  entirely  satisfactory,  al- 
though there  is  doubtless  an  important  element  of  truth  in 
each  of  them,  but  all  combined  may  be  necessary  in  order 
to  afford  a  full  and  rounded  view  of  the  great  fact.  Still, 
the  fact  itself  of  an  atonement  by  Jesus  Christ  for  sinful 
men,  whatever  the  explanation,  remains  as  the  unvarying 
declaration  of  the  Word  of  God. 

How  men  have  theorized  and  speculated  about  the  fact 
of  inspiration !  Many  of  these  theories  have  now  become 
obsolete,  and  it  may  be  that  the  final  and  satisfactory  ex- 
planation of  this  fact  is  yet  to  be  formulated.  But  the 
fact  itself  of  inspiration  remains  as  one  of  the  explicit 
declarations  of  Scripture. 

Again,  the  Bible  declares  certain  momentous  things  in 
regard  to  the  future  life,  but  it  nowhere  gives  a  detailed 
explanation  of  the  nature  of  the  blessedness  or  the  woe 
which  awaits  men  in  the  world  to  come.  It  is  to  human 
speculation  respecting  the  "future,  rather  than  to  the  plain, 
unvarnished  statements  of  Scripture,  that  much  miscon- 
ception and  confusion  of  mind  have  been  due.  So  of 
certain  theories,  whose  day,  however,  seems  now  to  have 
passed,  in  regard  to  a  possible  probation  after  death  for 
men  who  die  unrepentant.  A  little  careful  examination 
of  the  Bible  itself  would  have  disclosed  how  extremely 
slight  the  grounds  are  for  any  such  hope  for  the  per- 
sistently wicked.  Liberty  to  speculate  is  one  of  the 
privileges  of  all,  but  to  promulgate  theories  which  are 
calculated  to  raise  unwarranted  hopes  in  the  minds  of  sin- 
ful men,  or  to  lead  them  to  neglect  so  great  a  salvation  as 
Christ  offers,  is  a  serious  responsibility  for  any  one  to 
assume. 


MISCONCEPTIONS  OF  THE  BIBLE  35 

Men's  understanding  of  Scripture,  with  its  great  un- 
changing facts,  has  been  gradually  enlarging.  Hence 
the  utter  unfairness  of  holding  up  to  ridicule  the  creeds 
and  statements  of  past  generations,  as  illustrating  the  pre- 
vailing opinion  among  intelligent  Christian  people  to-day 
in  regard  to  the  Bible.  Were  the  distinction  of  which  we 
have  been  speaking,  viz.,  as  between  unchanging  Scripture 
facts  and  fluctuating  human  theories  and  speculations 
respecting  these  facts,  always  kept  in  mind,  it  would 
relieve  a  vast  deal  of  mental  confusion  in  regard  to  this 
and  to  many  other  questions  relating  to  the  Bible. 

6.  The  existence  of  mysteries  in  the  sacred  Word  is 
sometimes  made  the  ground  of  objection  to  its  acceptance. 
But  the  fact  of  mysteries  in  the  Bible  should  no  more 
cause  men  to  stumble  or  hinder  them  from  receiving  or 
acting  upon  that  in  it  which  is  plain — and  the  great  bulk 
of  Scripture  teaching  is  perfectly  plain — than  the  fact  of 
mysteries  in  other  realms  of  knowledge  prevents  them 
from  recognizing  and  from  utilizing  such  facts  in  them  as 
have  been  established. 

We  know,  for  instance,  comparatively  little  in  regard  to 
astronomy,  and  there  is  much  which  is  mysterious  in  re- 
gard to  light,  electricity,  and  in  many  branches  of  science. 
Yet  men  are  not  deterred  by  this  fact  from  recognizing  as 
valid  and  from  applying  to  various  practical  ends  that 
which  in  any  of  these  sciences  is  clearly  known.  Hence 
the  telegraph,  the  telephone,  the  compass,  photography, 
the  trolley,  and  a  thousand  other  agencies  of  convenience 
and  of  progress.  No  more  should  the  fact  of  mysteries 
in  the  Bible  in  regard  to  God  and  the  spiritual  realm 
hinder  men  from  accepting  and  from  acting  upon  such 
facts  and  truths  pertaining  to  their  spiritual  interests  as 
are  clearly  revealed  therein.  It  would  be  strange  indeed 
if  we,  in  our  finiteness,  should  be  able  to  comprehend 
everything  pertaining  to  an  infinite  God.  If  the  Bible 
assumed  to  make  everything  absolutely  plain  concerning 
God,  this  fact  of  itself  might  well  lead  us  to  hesitate  to 
acknowledge  it  as  of  divine  origin. 


36  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

In  reality,  it  is  no  more  necessary  that  the  Bible  should 
be  divested  of  all  mystery  before  the  benefits  of  salvation 
may  be  derived  from  it  than  it  is  essential  for  one  to  com- 
prehend all  the  facts  in  regard  to  bread  and  bread-making 
before  one  can  have  his  hunger  appeased.  It  is  well 
enough  to  inform  oneself  in  regard  to  the  composition  of 
bread  and  the  philosophy  of  bread-making,  but  if  one  is 
hungry  and  starving  the  bread  itself  is  the  all-important 
thing.  The  explanation  of  any  mystery  connected  with 
the  making  of  bread  is  of  minor  consequence  entirely. 

So  we  may  gather  comfort,  inspiration,  salvation,  from 
much  in  Scripture  which  is  not  fully  explained.  This  is 
true,  for  instance,  of  the  great  facts  upon  which  the 
mysterious  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  based;  of  the  unex- 
plainable  facts  relating  to  Christ's  person,  his  dual  nature, 
human  and  divine;  of  the  transcendent  fact  of  his  atoning 
work;  and  this  whether  we  are  or  are  not  able  to  formu- 
late or  to  grasp  the  philosophy  of  these  mysteries.  By 
walking  in  the  way  of  life,  as  shown  to  us  in  the 
Scriptures,  we  may  attain  to  everlasting  blessedness,  and 
this  whether  we  do  or  do  not  comprehend  the  nature  and 
mode  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures.  One  may 
experience  the  new  birth,  with  all  the  infinite  blessings 
involved  in  it  for  this  life  and  the  next,  even  though  the 
wind  of  the  Spirit  blow  where  it  listeth  and  wre  can  not  tell 
whence  it  cometh  or  whither  it  goeth,  any  more  than 
could  Nicodemus.  We  may  accept  and  act  upon  the 
Scripture  teaching  concerning  prayer,  its  reality,  and  its 
answer,  and  find  richest  satisfaction  in  so  doing,  whether 
we  are  or  are  not  able  to  give  the  true  philosophy  of 
prayer.  The  inscrutable  mysteries  of  God's  providence 
may  baffle  all  our  efforts  at  understanding  them;  never- 
theless, accepting  the  assurance  that  "To  them  that  love 
God  all  things  work  together  for  good,"  we  may  go 
courageously  forward  through  life,  with  its  trying- 
ordeals,  confident  that  all  our  interests  for  time  and 
eternity  are  secure  in  him.  We  may  thank  God  for  the 


MISCONCEPTIONS  OF   THE  BIBLE 


37 


facts,  whether  we  can  or  cannot  grasp  them  fully,  or 
fathom  their  significance,  and  rejoice  in  the  rich  blessings 
which  they  were  designed  to  confer,  both  in  this  life  and 
the  life  to  come. 

It  is  a  misconception,  therefore,  in  regard  to  the  Bible, 
to  assume  that  the  fact  of  unexplained  mystery  in  it  con- 
stitutes a  valid  reason  for  rejecting  it,  or  for  failure  to 
act  in  accordance  with  such  of  its  instructions  as  are  plain. 

7.  A  better  understanding  of  the  relationship  between 
the  doctrine  of  inspiration  and  that  of  revelation  would 
relieve  much  confusion  of  mind  respecting  the  Bible. 

The  doctrine  of  inspiration  has  always  been  held  to  be 
important,  sometimes  all-important;  sometimes,  in  fact, 
everything  in  regard  to  the  Christian  faith  has  been  made 
to  hinge  upon  it.  It  has  even  been  thought  that,  if  the 
traditional  view  of  inspiration  cannot  be  maintained,  the 
entire  Bible,  with  all  its  precious  contents,  is  gone.  But 
Christian  thought  has  been  undergoing  modification  upon 
this  point.  The  question  of  revelation  has  come  to  the 
front,  and  is  now  recognized  as  of  relatively  greater  im- 
portance than  that  of  inspiration.  The  question  is 
whether  God  has  ever  really  made  himself  known  in 
human  history;  whether  the  great  events  which  lie  at  the 
basis  of  Christianity  ever  actually  occurred,  and  whether 
the  records  of  these  events  as  given  in  the  Scriptures  are 
to  be  relied  upon.  These  are  the  really  vital  inquiries. 
It  is  upon  such  considerations  as  these,  primarily,  rather 
than  upon  the  doctrine  of  inspiration,  that  the  claims  of 
Christianity  as  a  revealed  religion  turn.  If  it  is  true  that 
God  has  made  himself  known  to  men  progressively 
through  the  ages;  if  the  facts  gathering  about  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ  are  historic,  and  the  authors  of  the  Bible  were 
really  credible  witnesses  of  these  facts — all  of  which  seem 
to  be  the  settled  conviction  of  Christian  scholars — the 
Scriptures  are  entitled  to  belief  upon  grounds  entirely 
apart  from  the  question  of  their  inspiration.  This  being 
the  case,  even  if  the  doctrine  of  inspiration  could  not  be 


38  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

maintained,  there  would  still  be  no  real  occasion  for  call- 
ing in  question  the  essential  facts  and  doctrines  of  the 
Word  of  God.  The  solid  ground  of  our  confidence  in 
the  Bible  is  not  in  the  doctrine  of  inspiration,  but  rather 
in  the  historically  and  experimentally  attested  fact  of 
revelation  which  is  therein  recorded.  While  inspiration 
as  a  reality  has  never  been  questioned  by  the  Church, 
there  has  never  been  entire  agreement  as  to  the  philosophy 
or  explanation  of  it.  As  a  consequence,  frequent 
modifications  or  readjustments  of  men's  statements  or 
theories  in  regard  to  it  have  always  been  necessary. 
Hence,  to  base  one's  faith  upon  the  doctrine  of  inspiration 
alone,  or  primarily,  is  to  occupy  very  dangerous  ground, 
and  to  expose  oneself  to  constant  embarrassment. 

Yet,  while  we  emphasize  the  greater  relative  impor- 
tance of  the  doctrine  of  revelation,  we  are  by  no  means  to 
underestimate  or  to  disparage  the  doctrine  of  inspiration. 
It  is  important  to  fix  the  distinction  between  inspiration 
and  revelation  clearly  in  mind,  since  not  a  little  miscon- 
ception grows  out  of  failure  to  recognize  it.  Revelation 
is  vital  to  the  very  existence  of  Christianity.  Inspira- 
tion is  not  vital  to  it,  but  it  has  most  important  ends  of 
its  own  within  the  sphere  of  revelation.  If  there  is 
doubt  as  to  the  fact  of  divine  revelation  in  the  interest 
of  human  redemption,  it  is  in  vain  to  talk  about  inspira- 
tion. The  latter  is  really  a  doctrine  for  believers  only, 
to  whom  it  is  calculated  to  bring  encouragement,  comfort, 
help. 

The  fact  itself  of  inspiration,  or  that  the  writers  of  the 
Bible  were  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God  the  better  to  fit 
them  for  their  high  function,  is  made  plain  both  by  their 
own  consciousness  of  it,  which  they  frequently  declared, 
and  by  their  writings,  the  product  of  their  inspiration. 
For  the  Bible  clearly  transcends  unaided  human  power. 
It  stands  alone,  without  a  rival,  among  the  books  of  the 
world.  In  its  loftiness  of  aim,  in  its  wisdom,  in  its 
ideals,  in  the  great  character  which  is  its  central  figure, 


MISCONCEPTIONS  OF  THE  BIBLE 


39 


in  the  hopes  it  opens  to  men  for  the  future,  it  towers 
infinitely  above  them  all.  It  alone  provides  a  remedy  for 
human  sin.  It  bears  upon  its  very  face  the  marks  of 
divine  inspiration. 

But  while  the  fact  of  inspiration  is  not  to  be  questioned, 
there  are  wide  differences  of  opinion  as  to  its  nature,  and 
the  mode  and  degree  of  the  divine  inbreathing.  Per- 
haps an  exact  definition  of  inspiration,  including  all  the 
facts  in  the  case,  may  not  be  possible.  Certain  it  is  that 
no  statement  or  theory  in  regard  to  it  has  ever  yet  met 
with  universal  or  general  acceptance.  Yet  some  things 
in  regard  to  it  are  plain.  One  is,  that  it  was  the  writers 
who  were  inspired,  rather  than  their  writings.  This 
explains  the  wide  diversity  in  their  productions.  Their 
individuality  remained  unchanged.  Inspiration  did  not 
affect  that.  One  person  might  be  more  fully  under  the 
influence  of  the  Spirit  than  another,  or  might  be  more 
so  at  one  time  than  at  another.  Thus,  there  were  different 
degrees  of  inspiration.  This  is  evident  from  their  writ- 
ings. A  greater  degree  of  inspiration  was  required,  for 
instance,  to  produce  Isaiah  than  the  Chronicles;  the 
Gospel  according  to  John  than  the  story  of  Ruth;  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  than  the  history  of  the  Kings ;  yet 
the  general  principle  of  inspiration  pertains  to  all  the 
Scripture  writers,  and  so,  in  a  secondary  sense,  to  the 
whole  Bible. 

As  to  the  object  of  this  divine  inbreathing  or  inspira- 
tion, it  was  clearly  for  moral  and  spiritual  ends.  It  was 
to  aid  men  in  giving  a  correct  record  of  God's  progressive 
revelation  to  mankind,  helping  them  to  determine  or  to 
interpret  the  providential  significance  of  events,  and  to 
make  plain  the  truth  of  God  respecting  human  redemp- 
tion. It  was  to  make  men  wise  unto  salvation.  This  is 
the  distinctive  feature  of  the  Bible.  It  makes  plain  the 
way  of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  presents  the 
loftiest  motives  to  induce  men  to  accept  it.  Still  further, 
the  object  of  this  inspiration  of  the  Bible  writers  was  to 


4o  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

enable  them  to  furnish  nourishment  for  the  spiritual  life 
and  character  of  those  who  might  receive  the  truth,  and  so 
equip  them  for  effective  service. 

Men  were  inspired,  the  Bible  was  given  to  point  out 
the  way  of  salvation,  to  present  motives  to  influence  men 
to  walk  in  it,  and  to  nourish  and  sustain  them  spiritually 
while  doing  so.  This  is  brought  out  clearly  in  2  Tim. 
3:  16:  "Every  Scripture  inspired  by  God  is  also  profit- 
able for  teaching,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruc- 
tion which  is  in  righteousness :  that  the  man  of  God  may 
be  complete,  furnished  completely  unto  every  good  work." 

This  high  aim  is  steadily  kept  in  mind  by  all  the  Bible 
writers;  this  increasing  purpose  runs  all  through  the 
sacred  Word  from  beginning  to  end.  The  doctrine 
of  inspiration  is  thus  seen  to  be  important  within  the 
sphere  of  revelation,  and  was  designed  primarily  to  pro- 
mote the  spiritual  good  of  believers.  The  doctrine  of 
revelation  is  all-important,  and  vital  to  Christianity;  the 
doctrine  of  inspiration  has  important  ends  of  its  own 
within  the  sphere  of  revelation.  Thus  we  see  how  a 
recognition  of  this  distinction  helps  to  remove  misconcep- 
tions in  regard  to  the  Scriptures. 

8.  A  final  point  to  be  noticed  is  this,  that  the  true 
criterion  by  which  to  judge  of  the  practical  value  of  the 
Bible,  and  by  which  to  determine  whether  its  influence 
is  or  is  not  favorable  to  human  progress,  is  the  character 
of  the  effects  it  produces.  In  other  words,  it  is  to  be 
judged  by  its  fruits. 

Perhaps  there  are  no  better  fields  in  which  to  estimate 
its  influence  than  those  lands  where  it  has  been  intro- 
duced in  modern  times,  where  it  was  unknown  or  unheard- 
of  before,  where  society  was  at  the  lowest  point,  where 
generations  had  been  passed  in  degraded  barbarism. 
What  has  been  the  effect  of  the  Bible  in  these  lands,  or 
wherever  in  them  it  has  been  received  ?  Ask  fair-minded, 
observant  travelers,  ask  the  hundreds  of  missionaries 
from  Christian  lands  who  have  gone  abroad  to  introduce 


MISCONCEPTIONS  OF   THE  BIBLE  41 

it,  often  at  the  peril  of  health  and  of  life  itself,  under 
the  impulse  and  inspiration  of  its  spirit  and  teachings. 
Their  uniform  testimony  is,  as  appears  in  their  published 
letters,  in  their  books  and  public  addresses,  that  it  has 
always  wrought  a  moral  transformation  among  the  people 
in  so  far  as  it  has  been  accepted  and  made  the  rule  of  life; 
that  man's  social  condition  has  improved  in  every  respect; 
that  great  evils  have  been  done  away,  many  of  them,  like 
polygamy,  having  been  shamed  almost  out  of  existence; 
that  sanctity  has  been  given  to  the  marriage  relation; 
that  the  home  has  been  purified  and  ennobled ;  that  woman 
has  been  lifted  out  of  her  degradation;  that  an  impulse 
has  been  given  to  intellectual  development,  and  a  love 
for  learning  fostered;  that  it  has  caused  churches  and 
schools  to  spring  up,  and  the  debasing  practices  of  bar- 
barism to  give  place  to  a  Christian  civilization;  that  the 
natives  of  these  lands  have  gradually  become  virtuous, 
industrious,  peaceable,  self-respecting  people.  These  are 
facts,  well  authenticated,  incontrovertible,  and  these 
results  have  been  brought  about  by  the  Bible  and  the 
Christianity  which  it  inculcates.  They  are  the  fruits  by 
which  the  tree  is  to  be  judged. 

Time  would  fail  to  tell  of  what  it  has  done  for  the 
cause  of  education  under  this  same  influence,  giving  to 
the  world  schools,  colleges  and  universities;  what  it  has 
done  for  literature,  the  libraries  of  the  world  fairly  groan- 
ing, as  they  do,  under  the  literary  works  of  Christian 
men ;  what  it  has  done  for  science,  it  being  in  Bible  lands 
that  it  makes  the  greatest  progress;  what  it  has  done  for 
suffering  humanity,  its  humane  institutions  studding  the 
earth  as  the  stars  spangle  the  heavens;  what  it  has  done 
for  commerce  and  trade,  for  the  overthrow  of  great  evils, 
for  human  advancement  generally.  Time  would  fail  to 
tell  of  what  it  has  done  for  particular  nations,  as  for 
Scotland,  the  most  Bible-loving  country  in  the  world; 
for  Prussia,  since  the  days  of  Luther;  for  the  Waldenses 
in  their  mountain  fastnesses;  for  every  land,  in  fact, 


42  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

which  has  opened  its  doors  to  its  reception.  Said  Andrew 
Jackson  in  his  last  illness,  pointing  to  the  Bible :  "That  is 
the  rock  upon  which  our  republic  rests."  General  Grant, 
the  soldier  President,  once  said :  "The  Bible  is  the  sheet- 
anchor  of  our  liberties,  and  to  which  we  must  look  as  our 
guide  for  the  future."  When  an  African  prince,  who 
had  been  sent  for  the  purpose,  inquired  of  Queen  Victoria 
as  to  the  foundation  of  England's  greatness,  she  handed 
him  a  copy  of  the  Bible,  saying,  "That  is  the  secret  of 
my  country's  greatness;"  and  history  abundantly  estab- 
lishes the  fact  that  the  Bible  has  ever  been  the  cause  of 
true  national  greatness. 

The  writer's  first  Sabbath  on  the  continent  of  Europe 
happened  to  be  spent  in  Paris.  It  was  the  Fourth  of 
July,  and  it  could  well  have  been  believed  that  a  Fourth 
of  July  celebration  was  in  progress  in  some  large  city  at 
home.  It  was  a  grand  holiday.  The  people  were  out 
in  holiday  attire,  and  were  giving  themselves  to  festivities 
of  every  description,  not  to  say  gross  immoralities.  All 
the  places  of  amusement  were  open,  and  were  well  filled 
by  old  and  young  alike.  It  was  a  thoroughly  secular 
day,  noisy  and  somewhat  disorderly.  There  was  no 
sanctity,  no  quiet.  France  is  not  a  country  of  a  free 
Bible,  and  in  Paris  its  influence  is  hardly  perceptible. 

How  striking  the  contrast  in  Edinburgh,  where  another 
Sabbath  was  spent !  The  day  was  one  of  quiet.  A  holy 
hush  seemed  to  rest  over  the  city.  Places  of  amusement 
and  of  business  were,  as  a  rule,  closed.  As  the  morning 
bells  called  the  people  to  the  sanctuary,  they  might  every- 
where be  seen  wending  their  ways  to  their  accustomed 
places  of  worship,  to  listen  to  the  preaching  of  the  truth, 
and  to  engage  in  the  study  of  God's  Word.  In  those 
countries  where  the  Bible  is  most  widely  circulated  and  its 
influence  is  most  pervasive,  good  order,  respect  for  law, 
intelligence,  and  progress  among  the  people,  with  the 
absence  of  poverty  and  vice,  were  most  conspicuous.  In 
those  lands,  on  the  other  hand,  where  the  Bible  is  least 


MISCONCEPTIONS  OF  THE  BIBLE 


43 


known,  or  entirely  unheard-of,  shiftlessness,  vice  and 
general  degradation  were  apparent.  The  home  is 
impure,  and  woman  little  honored.  These  are  significant 
facts.  We  are  to  judge  the  Bible  by  its  fruits. 

The  authentic  story  of  the  ship  Bounty,  of  two  or  three 
generations  ago,  illustrates  the  influence  of  the  Bible  for 
good  in  a  direct  and  forcible  way.  The  ship  had  been 
sent  from  England  to  the  Pacific.  After  it  reached  its 
destination,  a  mutiny  broke  out,  and  the  officers  were 
set  adrift  in  a  small  boat  upon  the  open  sea,  from  which 
they  were  rescued  a  number  of  weeks  afterward,  nearer 
dead  than  alive.  The  mutineers,  now  in  full  control  of 
the  ship,  soon  quarreled  among  themselves.  At  length 
they  steered  for  the  Society  Islands,  which  they  reached 
in  due  time.  Later,  a  part  of  them,  taking  with  them 
wives  from  among  the  natives,  sailed  away  to  find  some 
place  where  they  might  spend  their  remaining  days  secure 
from  the  knowledge  and  intrusion  of  their  fellow  men. 
They  came  to  the  Pitcairn  Islands,  landed,  destroyed  the 
ship,  and  made  for  themselves  a  home.  It  was  not  long 
before  bitter,  furious  quarrels  arose  and  several  bloody 
murders  occurred.  A  fearful,  terrible  state  of  things 
prevailed  for  a  long  time.  Finally  the  leader,  remember- 
ing that  there  were  some  Bibles  among  the  ship's  stores 
which  had  been  preserved,  procured  one  and  began  to 
read  and  study  it  faithfully.  He  became  deeply  interested 
in  it,  and  through  its  influence  was  soundly  converted. 
He  began  to  teach  it  and  caused  it  to  be  taught  to  the 
other  members  of  the  mutinous  settlement.  A  trans- 
formation was  soon  apparent  throughout  the  entire  com- 
munity. Quarrels  ceased.  A  spirit  of  kindness  and 
good  will  began  to  reign.  Public  worship  was  regularly 
maintained,  altars  were  set  up,  and  prayer  ascended  from 
every  home.  A  standard  of  morality  was  maintained 
which  would  put  many  of  our  best  communities  to  the 
blush. 

A  few  years  later  the  islands  were  visited  by  English 


44  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

vessels.  From  time  to  time  thereafter,  reports  were 
carried  back  to  England  of  the  condition  of  affairs  on 
these  islands  which  brought  surprise  and  astonishment 
to  every  one.  These  reports  were  published,  are  on 
record,  and  have  been  verified  repeatedly  by  more  recent 
voyagers.  What  is  more,  that  little  community,  number- 
ing now  between  one  and  two  hundred,  is  a  Christian 
community  of  high  grade,  a  moral  oasis  in  the  midst  of  a 
desert  waste.  This  has  been  the  direct  result  of  the 
influence  of  the  Bible.  It  can  be  traced  to  no  other 
source.  It  admits  of  no  other  explanation.  The  people 
themselves  acknowledge  it.  This  shows  beyond  a  per- 
adventure,  and  in  circumstances  which  render  any  other 
explanation  impossible,  the  marvelous  power  of  the  simple 
Scriptures  to  promote  the  moral  elevation  of  men,  their 
progress,  their  well-being  in  every  respect.  The  Bible 
is  to  be  judged  by  its  fruits. 


Ill 

POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS    AS  TO    THE    INTERPRE- 
TATION   OF    SCRIPTURE 

That  the  enemies  of  the  Bible  should  misrepresent  it 
and  pervert  its  teachings  is  not  strange.  That  they 
should  seek  to  discredit  it  and  to  undermine  its  influence 
in  every  possible  way,  is  only  what  is  to  be  expected. 
This  purpose,  with  unwearying  persistence,  they  have 
long  sought  to  carry  out. 

It  would  be  reason  for  congratulation  if  this  open 
hostility  were  the  only  obstacle  which  the  Bible  is  obliged 
to  encounter.  Yet  while  the  Bible  is  abused  by  its 
enemies,  it  is  not  free  from  abuse  on  the  part  of  its  friends. 
Through  misconceptions  respecting  its  nature  and  aim, 
through  faulty  interpretations  of  its  meaning,  and 
through  uses  of  its  contents  which  are  entirely  unwar- 
ranted, erroneous  impressions  of  the  Bible  are  conveyed 
to  others,  prejudices  against  it  are  aroused,  and  its  real 
teachings  are  obscured. 

Sometimes,  for  example,  the  mere  material  of  the  book 
itself,  the  paper  on  which  it  is  printed,  is  regarded  with 
a  reverence  akin  to  worship,  as  if  this  were  equally  sacred 
with  the  divine  message  itself,  or  even  with  the  supreme 
object  of  devotion.  This  is  bibliolatry,  and  why  is  not 
book-worship  by  a  Protestant  as  pernicious  as  the  adora- 
tion of  the  host  or  the  worship  of  the  Virgin  by  the 
Romanist  ? 

Again,  not  infrequently  the  Bible  has  been  employed  as 
a  book  of  magic,  as  if  it  had  the  mysterious  power  of 
determining  important  questions  by  the  passages  which 
happen  to  meet  the  eye  as  it  is  opened  at  random.  But 
wherein  does  this  use  of  the  Scriptures  differ,  in  principle, 

45 


46  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

from  many  of  the  forms  of  divination  which  were 
anciently  practiced?  If  certain  persons  have  supposed 
themselves  to  be  providentially  guided,  in  time  of  trouble, 
by  the  passages  which  first  struck  their  eye,  what  real 
reason  have  they  for  this  belief,  or  for  making  the  practice 
which  they  themselves  follow  a  rule  for  others? 

By  others  still,  though  less  frequently  now  than  in  the 
past,  the  Bible  has  been  employed  to  oppose  discoveries 
in  science,  or  philosophy,  or  progress  in  theological 
thought.  Galileo  was  silenced  by  the  authorities  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  who  then  quoted  the  Bible 
against  the  theory  of  the  revolution  of  the  earth  around 
the  sun.  This  use  of  Scripture  springs  from  an  entire 
misconception  as  to  its  purpose  and  scope. 

Sometimes,  again,  it  has  been  thought  that  in  the  words 
and  letters  of  Scripture,  in  the  structure  of  its  sentences, 
in  its  symbolisms,  in  its  numbers,  in  its  seeming  coinci- 
dences, all  sorts  of  mystic  meanings  lie  concealed;  that 
they  furnish  data  for  determining  the  time  of  the  second 
advent  or  the  end  of  the  world.  It  has  also  been  asserted 
that  the  minute  fulfilment  of  prophecy  may  be  established 
in  the  events  which  are  occurring  from  day  to  day.  These 
misconceptions  are  due  to  a  failure  to  understand  some 
of  the  most  common  principles  of  Biblical  interpretation, 
or  to  perceive  the  real  nature  and  function  of  prophecy. 

Again,  the  Bible  has  been  greatly  abused  by  the  indis- 
criminate use  of  proof-texts;  by  making  important 
doctrines  to  hinge  upon  sentences  taken  out  of  their  con- 
nection, while  a  score  or  more  of  other  and  modifying 
passages  are  utterly  ignored;  by  the  literal  interpretation 
of  the  figurative  language  in  which  the  Bible  abounds; 
by  reading  most  fanciful  and  far-fetched  meanings  into 
the  plainest  prose;  by  an  entire  disregard  of  the  context 
and  the  historical  setting  of  passages,  in  the  light  of  which 
alone  their  true  significance  can  be  determined,  and  their 
proper  application  be  made. 

In  these  and  other  ways  the  Bible  has  suffered  at  the 


INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE  47 

hands  of  its  friends,  as  well  as  of  its  enemies.  The 
motive  in  the  two  instances  has  been  different,  but  the 
effects  have  been  similar.  By  faulty  and  vicious  methods 
of  interpretation;  by  employing  quotations  regardless  of 
their  connections;  by  a  partisan  zeal  to  sustain  some  pre- 
conceived theory  or  view;  or  by  various  other  unwar- 
ranted uses  of  the  Word  of  God,  its  friends  are  responsible 
for  infinite  mischief  to  the  cause  of  Christ  and  of  truth. 
It  has  even  become  a  proverb  that  anything  can  be  proven 
from  the  Bible. 

Yet,  wonderful  as  the  sacred  volume  is,  marvelous  as 
has  been  its  history,  and  mysterious  as  it  may  be  in  some 
of  its  parts,  it  is  not,  after  all,  so  mysterious  a  book  as  a 
whole,  or  so  difficult  of  apprehension  in  its  essential 
truths,  as  to  be  beyond  the  easy  understanding  of  the 
average  mind,  one  might  almost  say  of  the  average  child. 
It  is  a  book  of  real  life,  a  people's  book,  and  so  plain,  for 
the  most  part,  that  he  who  runs  may  read.  It  seems 
strange  indeed  that  there  should  be  such  serious  and  con- 
stant misapprehension  of  its  meaning.  This  can  only  be 
due  to  the  overlooking  of  simple,  natural,  common-sense 
principles  of  interpretation,  which  are  within  the  easy 
grasp  of  all,  and  need  scarcely  more  than  be  mentioned 
to  be  appreciated  and  accepted. 

i.  One  of  these  principles  is,  that  a  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture must  be  studied  and  interpreted  historically,  i.  e., 
in  the  light  of  the  particular  circumstances  in  which  it  was 
written ;  the  conditions  and  usages  of  society  at  that  time, 
and  the  special  object  and  aim  which  the  writer  had  in 
view.  When  the  meaning  is  obvious,  or  where  the  truth 
inculcated  is  manifestly  of  universal,  rather  than  of  local 
and  temporary  application — as,  for  instance,  in  the  case 
of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  Ten  Commandments, 
and  various  moral  precepts  scattered  through  the  Scrip- 
tures— this  may  not  be  indispensable.  But  even  here, 
much  can  never  be  fully  understood  save  as  the  historical 
settings  are  taken  into  account.  Some  knowledge  of  the 


48  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

situation  and  environment  is  absolutely  essential  to  throw 
light  upon  the  meaning,  just  as  in  the  case  of  other  ancient 
writings  containing  allusions  to  customs  then  prevalent, 
and  to  modes  of  thought  then  current,  but  altogether 
different  from  those  with  which  we,  in  our  times,  are 
familiar.  Yet  many  overlook  this.  They  seem  to  regard 
the  Bible  as  having  been  let  down,  all  at  once  and  com- 
plete, out  of  heaven,  all  parts  of  it  as  equally  important, 
and  equally  applicable  to  all  ages,  to  all  people,  and  in  all 
circumstances,  while  such  a  thing  as  a  human  element 
in  it,  or  as  progress  in  the  unfolding  of  truth  through 
the  long  period  embraced  in  its  composition,  is  entirely 
ignored. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  books  composing  the  Bible 
were  written  at  different  periods,  the  writers  were  men 
of  their  own  times,  who  wrote  primarily  with  reference 
to  the  events  and  needs  of  the  age  in  which  they  lived. 
Although  they  wrote  as  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  each 
at  the  same  time  wrote  in  his  own  peculiar  style.  His 
individuality  had  full  play.  Frequently,  existing  customs 
and  matters  then  current  were  referred  to  without  expla- 
nation, as  if  every  one  could  understand  them,  and  as 
those  addressed  of  course  did,  but  as  we  may  not. 

Take,  for  instance,  any  of  the  epistles  of  the  New 
Testament,  like  the  one  to  the  Christians  of  Galatia,  or 
Philippi,  or  one  of  those  to  Timothy.  They  were 
informal  letters,  written  in  view  of  the  special  conditions 
and  needs  of  the  particular  church  or  person  addressed. 
Paul  may  have  never  dreamed  of  their  being  preserved 
and  read  centuries  later.  In  them,  various  prevailing 
errors,  with  which  we  of  to-day  are  but  little  if  at  all 
familiar,  were  considered  and  corrected.  There  are  allu- 
sions to  matters  and  things  purely  local,  with  directions 
what  to  do  in  this  or  that  special  case,  with  which  we 
have  little  concern.  Mingled  with  all  is  more  or  less 
doctrinal  instruction,  not  in  the  way  of  formal  statement, 
but  as  related  to  the  particular  end  which  the  writer  had 


INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE 


49 


in  view.  In  such  circumstances,  would  it  be  at  all  sur- 
prising if  a  person  eighteen  hundred  years  later,  trained 
in  an  entirely  different  state  of  things,  should,  in  reading 
one  of  these  letters,  here  and  there  come  upon  pas- 
sages and  allusions  difficult  to  be  understood  ? 

It  is  only  as  one  is  able  in  a  measure  to  put  oneself 
back  in  imagination  into  the  times  when  the  author  wrote, 
with  an  understanding  of  the  situation  and  surroundings 
and  what  he  was  aiming  at,  that  we  can  determine  the 
real  meaning  of  obscure  passages,  or  of  an  epistle  as  a 
whole.  Then  the  significance  becomes  plain.  Then  it 
is  seen  that  some  things  were  intended  for  temporary 
application  only,  for  a  single  church  or  a  person,  and  that 
they  have  no  application  or  binding  force  now,  while 
other  things  are  clearly  of  the  nature  of  general  principles, 
which  are  of  permanent  and  universal  application.  The 
famous  passage  in  regard  to  women  keeping  silent  in  the 
churches,  studied  in  this  way,  is  found  to  be  a  direction 
Only  for  the  time  when  it  was  written,  and  possibly  for 
the  particular  community  addressed.  For  this,  sufficient 
reason  was  found  in  the  state  of  society  then  and  there 
existing,  a  state  which  does  not  prevail  in  Christian  lands 
to-day. 

One  of  the  first  and  most  important  principles  of 
Biblical  interpretation,  then,  is  that  of  studying  the  Bible 
in  its  historical  settings,  or  in  the  light  of  the  circum- 
stances in  which  its  various  parts  were  written. 

2.  A  second  principle,  logically  following  the  first,  is 
to  take  the  language  of  Scripture  in  its  plain  and  most 
obvious  meaning.  If  a  passage  is  manifestly  figurative 
or  poetical,  as  much  of  Scripture  is,  or  if  a  literal  mean- 
ing would  be  at  variance  with  its  evident  scope,  or  incon- 
sistent with  the  nature  of  things,  other  principles  of  inter- 
pretation must  enter  in,  just  as  in  the  interpretation  of 
figurative,  poetic  and  exceptional  kinds  of  writing  in 
other  literature.  But  the  general  rule  is,  to  take  the 
language  of  Scripture,  most  of  which  is  the  language^ 

IV 


50  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

common  life,  as  it  stands,  in  its  plain,  most  obvious 
meaning. 

Yet  there  is  a  tendency  with  some,  as  appears  in 
various  publications,  in  many  Scriptural  expositions,  in 
Bible  readings  especially,  to  draw  out  strange,  novel, 
unheard-of  meanings  from  the  simplest  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture, or  to  read  into  them  other  meanings  equally  strange 
and  unnatural,  of  which  their  authors  never  dreamed.  It 
is  not  at  all  impossible  that  a  partisan  zeal  in  behalf  of 
some  favorite  view  or  pet  theory  may  lead  one  to  imagine 
that  he  sees  support  for  it  where,  in  reality,  none  what- 
ever exists.  One  cannot  doubt  that  Paul  would  be  greatly 
astonished  and  mortified  if  he  knew  all  the  fanciful  mean- 
ings, the  strained  arguments,  and  the  forced  interpreta- 
tions which  have  been  evolved  from  his  writings  during 
the  centuries. 

More  errors,  probably,  have  arisen  from  pushing  figura- 
tive expressions  to  an  extreme,  from  literalizing  them, 
than  from  any  other  single  cause.  Against  this  tendency 
the  Bible  student  needs  to  be  on  constant  guard,  since 
such  expressions  are  very  common,  particularly  in  some 
of  the  prophets  and  in  Revelation.  What  exaggerated, 
mischievous  ideas,  for  instance,  many  have  gained  of  the 
future  world,  from  a  literal  interpretation  of  the  figura- 
tive expressions  in  the  Apocalypse!  Heaven  is  made  to 
be  literally  a  city  foursquare,  with  walls  great  and  high, 
built  of  actual  jasper,  and  with  foundations  of  all  manner 
of  tangible  precious  stones,  its  gates  of  real  pearl,  its 
streets  of  pure  gold,  while  angels  without  number,  in 
white  though  scant  attire,  and  with  great,  ungainly,  ill- 
adjusted  wings,  as  in  pictorial  representations,  are  all  the 
time  making  beautiful  music  upon  actual  golden  harps, 
and  singing  with  voices  most  exquisitely  trained.  The 
other  place,  too,  is  literally  a  bottomless  pit,  or  an  actual 
lake  of  fire  burning  with  real  sulphurous  brimstone. 

Unquestionably  these  figures  stand  for  tremendous 
realities,  for  facts  of  future  blessedness,  answering  to  our 


INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE  51 

highest  conceptions,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  future  end- 
less woe  on  the  other.  In  either  case,  human  language 
seems,  to  the  writers,  to  be  inadequate  to  express  the 
reality  without  the  aid  of  startling  figures.  Yet  these 
literal  interpretations  of  that  which  is  manifestly  figura- 
tive, particularly  the  lurid  representations  of  the  doom  of 
the  wicked,  have  led  many  to  distrust  God's  goodness  and 
to  deny  the  Bible  altogether,  when  the  real  facts  or  truths 
themselves,  for  which  the  figures  stand,  might  have  been 
accepted  without  hesitation.  We  know  very  little  in 
detail  about  the  blessedness  or  the  woe  of  the  future, 
while  the  facts  themselves  stand  out  from  the  teachings 
of  the  Word  with  unmistakable  clearness. 

But  if  the  practice  of  literalizing  and  materializing  the 
figurative  and  poetic  language  is  harmful,  so,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  the  too  common  practice  of  spiritualizing 
ordinary  plain  statements.  In  this  way  the  most  artificial 
and  unheard-of  meanings  and  applications  are  evolved, 
especially  from  the  books  of  Daniel  and  Revelation,  and 
in  fact  from  the  whole  history  of  the  Jewish  economy 
and  Jewish  ritual,  where  every  ribbon  and  every  nail  is 
made  to  typify  some  profound  spiritual  truth.  And  what 
unreal,  unnatural  expositions  of  Scripture  are  sometimes 
given !  What  a  magical  book  the  Bible  must  be,  and  how 
unfortunate  that  so  few  are  privileged  to  possess  the  key 
to  its  curious  and  hidden  meanings ! 

Both  these  extremes  are  to  be  avoided.  The  great  bulk 
of  Scripture  is  to  be  interpreted  according  to  the  natural, 
common-sense  method,  taking  the  language  as  it  stands, 
prose  as  prose,  and  poetry  as  poetry,  regarding  it  in  the 
light  of  the  circumstances  in  which  it  was  written,  treat- 
ing it  as  we  would  any  other  ancient  book. 

It  is  related  that  some  years  ago,  in  a  circle  of  clergy- 
men near  Boston,  there  was  a  discussion  as  to  the  true 
meaning  of  the  words  of  our  Lord  in  Matt.  18 :  6.  After 
most  of  those  present  had  expressed  their  opinions,  differ- 
ing widely  in  their  interpretations,  the  late  Dr.  Mason, 


52  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

a  wise  and  reverent  scholar,  said,  when  it  came  his  turn 
to  speak :  ' 'Brethren,  I've  thought  over  this  passage  a 
good  deal,  and  it  seems  to  me  its  meaning  can  be  best 
expressed  in  about  these  words"  (and  he  repeated  the 
text  slowly  and  with  marked  emphasis),  "  'Whoso  shall 
offend  one  of  these  little  ones  which  believe  in  me,  it 
were  better  for  him  that  a  millstone  were  hanged  about 
his  neck,  and  that  he  were  drowned  in  the  depth  of  the 
sea.' '  That  closed  the  discussion.  Many  other  disputed 
texts  of  the  Bible  would  gain  light  through  a  similar 
exegesis. 

3.  A  third  principle  of  Bible  interpretation  is  that 
of  comparing  Scripture  with  Scripture.  One  portion  is 
to  be  understood  or  interpreted  only  in  harmony  with 
every  other  portion  bearing  upon  the  some  subject.  No 
one  part  or  text  is  to  be  taken  by  itself  as  the  sole  support 
of  a  great  doctrine,  or  for  the  enforcement  of  some 
important  duty.  Its  relations  to  all  other  portions  and 
to  the  whole  must  also  be  considered,  while  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  the  revelation  of  .God  is  progressive. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  rarely  that  any  Bible  writer 
attempts  to  present  all  aspects  of  a  great  truth  at  once. 
One  brings  out  the  phase  of  it  which  may  suit  his  purpose 
at  the  time,  another  brings  out  another.  Each  regards  it 
from  a  particular  point  of  view,  or  for  a  particular 
purpose.  In  order  to  a  complete  view,  therefore,  all  the 
passages  bearing  upon  the  subject  must  be  brought 
together,  and  their  different  or  partial  representations 
must  be  combined.  For  example,  the  many-sided  doc- 
trine of  the  atonement  is  presented  in  the  New  Testament 
by  different  writers,  for  different  purposes,  in  several 
different  yet  not  inconsistent  aspects,  or  by  the  same 
writer  on  different  occasions,  which  shows  that  no  one 
mode  of  speech  can  fully  comprehend  or  set  it  forth. 
Yet  bitter  theological  battles  have  been  fought  over  the 
doctrine,  and  one  reason  has  been  that  each  of  the  numer- 
ous parties  to  the  controversy  has  adopted  some  one  of 


INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE 


S3 


these  modes  of  representation  as  if  that  set  forth  the 
whole  truth,  instead  of  combining  them  all  before  form- 
ing a  judgment  as  to  the  real  teaching  of  Scripture. 
Each  theory  announced  has  had  some  truth  in  it,  but  no 
single  theory  has  covered  the  whole  case.  As  no  one 
can  look  at  all  sides  of  a  mountain  at  once,  but  must  go 
round  it  again  and  again  to  obtain  a  correct  impression 
of  its  majesty  and  beauty,  so  the  various  aspects  of  funda- 
mental Scripture  doctrines  must  be  carefully  considered 
and  combined  before  we  form  definite  and  final  conclu- 
sions as  to  any  one  of  them. 

The  conversation  between  Christ  and  the  tempter  in 
the  wilderness  is  very  suggestive  in  this  connection, 
emphasizing  the  need  which  we  are  urging  of  com- 
paring Scripture  with  Scripture.  The  devil  quoted  from 
it  in  support  of  his  propositions.  Christ  did  not  deny  the 
quotations,  but  by  themselves  they  did  not  give  the  whole 
truth  on  the  subject.  So  when  the  tempter  said,  "It  is 
written"  thus  and  so,  he  said,  "Again  it  is  written," 
and  brought  in  the  corrective  of  other  passages,  their 
complement,  or  the  conditions  of  their  fulfilment.  Simi- 
larly now,  if  one  thing  is  found  written  somewhere  in 
Scripture,  we  must  also  consider  whether  some  modifying 
or  completing  passage  may  not  be  written  somewhere  else. 
The  necessity  of  this  balancing  of  different  statements  is 
especially  seen  in  studying  such  a  topic  as  the  person  of 
Christ.  On  the  one  hand,  it  is  declared,  in  many  passages, 
that  he  was  human,  a  man  like  other  men;  but  it  is  written 
again,  in  many  other  passages,  that  he  was  also  divine. 

We  must  hold  to  what  all  the  passages  combined  teach. 
Christ  was  clearly  both  human  and  divine.  So  in  regard 
to  the  sovereignty  of  God  and  the  free  agency  of  man. 
Each  is  a  half-truth  or  a  half-hinge.  Both  are  clearly 
taught.  But  the  Calvinist  has  given  special  prominence 
to  the  sovereignty  half-hinge,  the  Arminian  to  the  free- 
agency  half-hinge.  Hence  the  controversies,  and  each 
side  only  half  right. 


54 


POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 


The  true  method  of  Bible  study,  therefore,  is  that  of 
comparing  Scripture  with  Scripture,  or  what  is  called 
the  inductive  method,  such  as  is  employed  by  the  man  of 
science,  who,  in  the  study  of  nature,  first  gathers  together 
his  facts  and  illustrations  and  then  deduces  from  them 
some  general  principle  applicable  to  all.  Thus  from  the 
accumulated  facts  of  vegetable  life,  the  science  of  botany 
has  been  evolved.  Out  of  the  strata  of  the  earth  and 
the  facts  gathered  from  its  study,  the  science  of  geology 
is  being  developed.  Out  of  the  phenomena  of  the  heavens, 
the  science  of  astronomy  is  unfolding.  So  the  passages 
or  statements  of  Scripture  bearing  upon  a  given  subject, 
like  the  atonement,  the  person  of  Christ,  or  the  future 
life,  must  be  brought  together,  studied  in  connection  with 
the  context  in  each  case,  then  arranged  and  classified. 
Each  must  be  given  its  proper  weight.  What  the  unin- 
spired friends  of  Job  say,  for  instance,  is  not  to  have  the 
same  weight  as  what  Christ  and  the  apostles  say.  The 
general  truths  or  principles  which  Scripture  as  a  whole 
manifestly  teaches,  must  be  deduced.  This  gives  a 
full,  rounded  view.  From  neglect  of  this  common-sense 
principle,  great  heresies  have  sprung  up,  each  heresy 
containing  something  of  truth,  but  only  a  partial  or  half- 
truth,  and  that  mixed  with  error.  All  this  would  have 
been  avoided,  or  largely  so,  by  a  careful  employment  of 
this  inductive  method  of  comparing  Scripture  with  Scrip- 
ture. This  principle  has  been  dwelt  upon  because  of  its 
importance,  and  because  it  is  so  often  ignored  in  the  hop, 
skip  and  jump  methods  of  Bible  study  which  seem  to  be 
so  common  in  Sunday-schools,  in  Bible  readings,  some- 
times in  preaching. 

Another  important  principle  of  interpretation  is  that 
the  best  results  of  Christian  scholarship  of  the  present  and 
preceding  ages  should  be  given  due  weight.  For,  while 
we  as  Protestants  hold  firmly  to  the  right  of  private  judg- 
ment, and  deny  the  binding  force  of  the  decrees  or  inter- 
pretations of  any  Church,  or  council,  or  other  body  of  men, 


INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE 


55 


at  the  same  time  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  discard  as  of  no 
consequence  what  have  been  and  are  the  prevailing  con- 
victions within  the  Christian  Church.  A  stream  of 
Biblical  interpretation  has  been  flowing  down  through  the 
centuries,  and  this  has  been  enlarging,  broadening,  and 
growing  more  clear,  as  facilities  for  Bible  study  have  in- 
creased. The  results  of  these  investigations  are  easily 
accessible,  and  should  have  their  place  and  their  proper 
influence  along  with  other  light  which  may  be  available, 
in  any  effort  to  determine  what  the  Scriptures  actually 
teach.  To  regard  all  this  as  valueless  is  the  height  of 
presumption.  Hence  if  one's  studies  have  led  him  to  a 
radical  departure  from  what  may  be  termed  a  consensus 
of  evangelical  Christian  scholarship  upon  a  given  point, 
while  this  would  not  necessarily  prove  him  wrong,  it 
would  seem  clearly  to  call  for  careful  reconsideration  on 
his  part,  and  modesty,  to  say  the  least,  in  making  his 
claims.  His  methods  may  have  been  defective,  or  some 
link  in  the  chain  of  his  reasoning  may  have  been  lacking. 
It  is  the  part  of  wisdom  not  to  be  over-confident,  and  to 
be  concerned  only  to  learn  what  the  Bible  actually  teaches 
upon  these  important  subjects,  rather  than  to  go  to  it  for 
confirmation  of  preconceived  ideas  or  theories.  This 
can  only  be  effected  through  a  recognition,  along  with 
other  principles  of  interpretation,  of  the  inductive  method 
of  study,  or  careful  comparison  of  Scripture  with 
Scripture. 

4.  A  fourth  and  final  general  principle,  really  the  most 
important  of  all,  is  this,  that  the  Word  of  God,  written  by 
holy  men  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  can  only 
be  interpreted  aright  as  the  same  Spirit  is  in  the  heart  to 
give  spiritual  insight.  Spiritual  things  are  only  spirit- 
ually discerned. 

We  recognize  this  principle  in  regard  to  other  interpre- 
tations. If  we  would  have  nature  reveal  to  us  her  secrets, 
if  we  would  understand  a  beautiful  poem,  or  work  of  art, 
or  musical  composition ;  if  we  would  draw  out  and  under- 


g6  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

stand  the  real  goodness  of  a  human  soul,  we  must,  in  all 
these  cases,  approach  them  in  a  sympathetic,  appreciative 
spirit.  This  is  absolutely  essential.  Unless  we  do, 
nature  is  a  sealed  book,  and  the  treasures  of  literature,  art, 
science,  and  the  human  heart,  remain  locked  and 
impenetrable. 

The  sacred  volume  must  be  approached  in  a  similar 
way.  Otherwise  it,  also,  remains  a  sealed  book.  Only 
to  a  sympathetic,  appreciative  spirit  will  it  yield  its  deep- 
est meanings.  It  will  be  responsive  to  no  other.  And 
inasmuch  as  it  is  a  book  of  spiritual  things,  preeminently, 
and  with  a  spiritual  aim,  its  more  profound  significance 
can  only  be  spiritually  discerned,  or  only  as  the  Spirit  of 
God,  who  moved  men  to  write  it,  is  in  the  heart.  Scrip- 
ture can  never  be  understood  by  grammar,  logic,  rhetoric 
and  history  alone.  It  is  only  by  the  Spirit,  in  addition, 
or  primarily,  who  takes  of  these  things  and  shows  them  to 
men,  that  their  eyes  will  really  be  opened  to  behold  won- 
drous things  out  of  God's  law.  This  principle  has  been 
recognized  by  the  greatest  leaders  of  the  Church  in  all 
ages.  And  the  more  of  this  Spirit  men  possess,  the  more 
will  Scripture  be  illumined  for  them,  and  the  more  will  it 
be  seen  to  contain.  This  will  not  necessarily  render  one's 
interpretations  infallible,  since  the  medium  through  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  operates  is  imperfect — a  man  may  still  be 
a  crank  after  becoming  a  Christian.  But,  generally 
speaking,  the  more  the  Spirit  of  God  is  cherished  in  one's 
heart,  the  less  liable  one  is  to  fall  into  serious  error;  the 
more  likely  one  is  to  reach  the  truth.  Hence  the  constant 
need,  in  reading  and  studying  the  Word  of  God,  of  the 
quickening  and  illumining  presence  of  the  divine  Spirit  in 
the  heart.  This  important  principle  would  hardly  seem 
to  require  elaboration  for  intelligent  Christian  people,  but 
it  certainly  needs  a  fresh  and  a  constantly  renewed 
emphasis. 

We  have  spoken  now  of  a  number  of  simple  yet  funda- 


INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE 


57 


mental  and  essential  principles  of  Biblical  interpretation. 
Recognizing  the  real  object  and  aim  of  the  Bible,  we  have 
pointed  to  the  necessity  of  studying  it  historically,  con- 
sidering the  settings  and  the  circumstances  in  which  it 
was  written;  of  giving  to  its  language  its  natural,  proper 
significance,  interpreting  prose  as  prose,  and  poetry  as 
poetry;  of  comparing  Scripture  with  Scripture,  using  the 
inductive  method,  and  not  ignoring  the  consensus  of 
Christian  scholarship;  and,  finally,  the  most  important  of 
all,  of  seeking  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  without  whose 
aid  the  Bible  will  forever  remain  a  sealed  book,  in  so  far, 
at  least,  as  its  deeper,  spiritual,  most  important  teachings 
are  concerned. 

Were  we  to  follow  these  simple  principles, 
we  should  not  go  far  astray  from  the  meaning  of 
the  Bible,  and  we  should  be  spared  many  grievous  mis- 
takes and  misconceptions.  Not  that  all  the  processes 
hinted  at  above  are  requisite  in  daily  readings  in  the  home, 
or  for  spiritual  nourishment ;  a  man  may  be  saved  and  be 
a  useful  Christian  in  spite  of  immature  and  defective 
views;  but  when  it  comes  to  studying  with  a  view  to 
accuracy,  or  to  going  beyond  the  mere  surface,  or  for  the 
sake  of  instructing  others,  these  fundamental  principles 
of  interpretation  cannot  be  left  out  of  the  account.  If 
ministers  of  the  gospel,  who  are  supposed  to  be,  and 
who  ought  to  be,  thoroughly  familiar  with  these  prin- 
ciples— the  a,  b,  c's,  indeed,  of  any  proper  preparation 
for  the  ministry — and  if  public  Bible  teachers,  lay  or 
clerical,  and  all  those  who  are  called  to  give  instruction 
in  the  Word  of  God,  would  only  take  pains  to  keep  them 
before  the  people,  line  upon  line,  and  precept  upon 
precept,  not  only  would  it  tend  to  deepen  their  hearers' 
interest  in  the  Bible,  render  their  study  of  it  more  intel- 
ligent, and  help  to  promote  wholesome,  well-balanced 
views  of  Scripture,  but,  more  effectively  than  in  any 
other  way,  would  it  meet  and  correct  the  many  misin- 
terpretations which  are  now  so  prevalent,  and  supplant 


58  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

the  vicious  methods  of  exegesis  which  seems  to  be  in 
vogue  in  many  quarters. 

It  is  all-important  that  the  revival  of  Bible  study 
now  in  progress  should  be  wisely  guided,  and  the  respon- 
sibility for  so  doing  rests  mainly  upon  intelligent,  edu- 
cated, consecrated,  Spirit-filled  ministers  and  laymen. 


BOOK  II 
LIFE 


IV 

POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS   AS   TO   BEGINNING  THE 
CHRISTIAN  LIFE 

After  a  person  has  become  a  Christian,  everything  in 
the  new  life  appears  to  him  to  be  simple  and  plain.  It 
seems  as  if  any  one  might  understand  it  all  readily,  were 
such  understanding  really  desired.  Yet,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  when  one  begins  seriously  to  think  of  entering  upon 
the  Christian  life,  many  difficulties  present  themselves; 
the  way  into  the  new  life  seems  hedged  about;  one  finds 
himself  entangled  in  a  maze  of  perplexities;  there  are 
troubles,  distress  and  darkness  on  every  side.  Fre- 
quently dreary  days  and  nights  are  passed;  sometimes 
one  is  restless  and  unsettled  for  weeks,  sometimes  for 
months  and  even  years.  Never  is  the  mind  more  active 
in  searching  for  stumbling-blocks,  or  more  fertile  in 
originating  difficulties,  than  at  the  threshold  of  a  Christian 
life.  When  at  length  the  light  appears,  one  marvels  that 
it  should  have  been  so  difficult  of  discovery. 

Without  stopping  to  inquire  why  this  is  so,  whether 
owing  to  defective  instruction,  or  to  the  magnifying  of 
things  which  are  not  essential,  or  simply  to  the  blinding 
effects  of  sin,  it  is  wise  to  notice  and  if  possible  try  to 
clear  away  some  of  the  difficulties  and  misconceptions 
Which  so  frequently  arise,  and  some  of  which  are  sug- 
gested in  almost  every  conversation  with  inquirers. 
Those  who  really  desire  to  enter  upon  the  Christian  life — 
and  the  number,  it  is  believed,  is  larger  than  is  generally 
supposed — ought  to  be  helped  to  see  clearly  just  what  to 
do,  that  there  may  be  no  delay  in  taking  the  step  which 
shall  bring  them  into  the  Christian  life. 

I.     A  common  difficulty,  indeed,  a  whole  class  of  diffi- 

61 


62  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

culties,  grows  out  of  a  misapprehension  respecting  the 
relation  of  the  feelings  to  the  decision  which  renders 
one  a  disciple  of  Christ.  Many  say  they  would  like  to  be 
Christians,  but  they  have  no  feeling,  or  do  not  feel  as 
they  suppose  they  ought,  or  as  some  others  seem  to  feel. 
They  have  heard  believers  describe  the  despair  they  had 
at  the  time  of  their  conversion;  the  rapturous  joy 
which  they  experienced  afterwards,  of  distress  followed 
by  relief;  the  darkness  of  mind  and  then  the  inflashing  of 
light.  Such  recitals  have  so  often  been  made  that  there 
has  come  to  be  an  impression  with  many  that  such  an 
experience  is  necessary;  and  that,  because  one  is  uncon- 
scious of  any  such  emotional  disturbance  as  others  have 
had,  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  to  settle  back  discouraged 
as  if  the  Christian  life  were  unattainable.  Yet  there  is 
not  a  shadow  of  Scripture  authority  for  conclusions  of 
this  sort.  To  be  converted  is  nowhere  represented  as  a 
matter  of  feeling.*  To  be  born  again  is  nowhere 
described  as  an  experience  of  the  emotions  solely.  It 
is  unfortunate  that  such  erroneous  impressions  prevail  so 
widely. 

This  matter  of  emotions,  as  related  to  entrance  upon 
Christian  life,  is  secondary  and  subordinate.  The  Bible 
bids  us  repent,  and  repentance  means  vastly  more  than 
to  feel  badly,  or  to  shed  a  few  tears  of  regret.  Emotion 
over  one's  past  life  may  accompany  repentance,  but  it  is 
not  repentance  itself.  To  repent  means  to  turn  squarely 
about  in  one's  course  of  life.  It  means  an  honest  pur- 
pose, with  God's  help,  to  forsake  sin  and  to  live  right- 
eously. Repentance  primarily  is  an  act  of  the  will.  It 
is  to  decide  to  live  a  right  life,  a  life  of  fidelity  to  Christ, 
in  distinction  from  a  wrong  life,  a  life  of  indifference,  or 
of  disobedience  and  sin.  This  being  the  case,  one  may 
set  out  in  the  Christian  course  just  as  calmly  and  deliber- 


*In  the  Revision,  it  is  not  stated,  "Except  ye  be  converted,"  but 
"Except  ye  turn." 


BEGINNING  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  63 

ately  as  one  would  carry  out  any  other  important  decision. 
All  the  sorrow  which  is  necessary  is  just  enough  to  lead 
one  to  abandon  a  wrong  life  and  to  choose  a  right  one. 
So  far  as  we  know,  James  and  Peter  and  John  started  out 
in  the  new  life  with  cool  deliberation.  We  have  no 
account  of  their  waiting  for  feeling,  or  of  any  refusal  on 
their  part  to  act  until  first  overwhelmed  with  sorrow. 
When  Jesus  called  them,  straightway  they  left  their  nets 
and  followed  him.  The  moment  they  fully  decided  to 
cast  in  their  lot  with  him,  they  became  his  followers,  his 
disciples,  or,  as  we  say,  Christians. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  temperaments  differ.  No 
two  persons  are  alike.  The  experiences  of  no  two  persons 
are  exactly  the  same.  Some  are  cool  and  collected;  they 
never  manifest  feeling;  they  are  never  known  to  weep. 
Not  that  they  do  not  feel,  or  are  not  tender  and  sympa- 
thetic, but  that  they  are  not  in  the  habit  of  manifesting  by 
outward  signs  the  inmost  state  of  their  hearts.  Others, 
on  the  contrary,  cannot  hide  their  emotions.  If  happy, 
they  show  it;  if  sad,  the  fact  is  not  concealed.  They  are 
easily  moved  to  tears.  Nor  is  it  strange,  perhaps,  that 
with  them  the  recollection  and  realization  of  past  ingrati- 
tude and  sin,  so  long  continued,  should  cause  bitter  tears 
of  sorrow.  But  unless  this  sorrow  leads  to  a  definite  and 
positive  purpose  to  "cease  to  do  evil,"  and  to  "learn  to 
do  well,"  it  is  of  little  avail.  Yet  those  who  are  seldom 
or  never  known  to  weep,  and  who  do  not  shed  a  tear 
when  convicted  of  sin,  may  be  no  less  sincere  than  those 
who  do.  They  may  be  just  as  much  in  earnest,  and  may 
prove  to  be  even  more  steadfast  in  their  purpose  to  follow 
the  Lord.  Thus  the  mere  fact  of  feeling  outwardly 
exhibited,  or  the  lack  of  it,  counts  for  little.  It  is  nothing 
particularly  in  one's  favor;  it  is  nothing  necessarily 
against  one.  We  would  not  disparage  emotion,  but 
instead  of  being  the  main  thing  in  conversion,  as  seems  to 
be  imagined  by  many,  it  is  really  secondary  and  incidental, 
rather  than  vital  and  essential. 


64  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

It  is  not  regarded  as  a  sufficient  excuse  for  neglecting 
duty  that  one  does  not  happen  to  feel  like  it.  Duty  is 
something  to  be  done,  whatever  one's  feelings  may  be. 
Suppose,  as  has  been  suggested,  a  note  of  yours  is  due 
to-morrow  at  the  bank,  and  a  friend  who  happens  to 
know  it  and  who  thinks  you  may  have  forgotten  it,  hurries 
in  just  before  the  close  of  banking  hours  to  remind  you 
of  it.  "Oh,  yes,  I  know  it,"  you  reply,  "and  I  suppose  I 
ought  to  go  down  and  pay  it.  The  money  is  here  in  my 
safe  and  I  have  been  thinking  of  that  note  all  day,  but 
for  some  reason  I  don't  feel  moved  to  pay  it.  I  know  it 
will  injure  my  credit  to  have  the  note  protested,  and  I 
suppose  I  ought  to  be  deeply  anxious  to  pay  it,  lest 
failure  to  do  so  injure  my  reputation.  But,  somehow,  I 
am  not.  Would  it  be  right  for  me,  feeling  as  I  do,  or 
rather  without  any  feeling  at  all,  to  go  down  to  the 
bank  and  pay  the  note?"  What  would  a  friend  think 
if  he  heard  one  talk  in  that  way?  Yet  that  is  precisely 
the  way  in  which  a  great  many  people  are  talking  about 
meeting  an  obligation  which  is  even  more  plain  and 
urgent,  viz :  that  of  beginning  a  life  of  obedience  to  God 
and  to  duty.  If  one  knows  it  to  be  his  duty  to  begin  a 
Christian  life,  as  most  people  know  it  to  be  theirs,  it  is 
high  time  to  discharge  that  duty  and  begin  that  life.  We 
should  no  more  wait  for  feeling  than  we  would  in  dis- 
charging any  other  known  duty. 

2.  Another  difficulty  relates  to  "conviction  of  sin." 
How  many  there  are  who  imagine  that  before  they  can 
really  enter  upon  the  Christian  life,  they  must  first  experi- 
ence certain  peculiar  sensations,  not  simply  of  sorrow, 
but  of  overwhelming  distress;  that  it  is  only  by  passing 
through  long  and  painful  conflicts,  through  agonies  of 
contrition,  through  gulfs  of  dark  despair,  that  they  can 
ever  emerge  into  the  light,  and  experience  fulness  of  joy 
and  peace!  What  is  "conviction  of  sin?"  It  is  being 
convinced  of  sin,  of  one's  personal  sinfulness,  or  that  one 
is  wrong  in  one's  relations  with  God,  and  that  there  ought 


BEGINNING  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  65 

to  be  an  immediate  change  in  one's  course  of  life  and 
attitude  toward  God.  It  is  not  distress,  or  crying,  or 
tears,  or  feeling  badly  at  all,  although  such  experiences 
may  and  often  do  attend  upon  conviction.  If  one 
realizes  that  he  is  a  sinner,  and  that  he  ought  to  change 
his  course  and  be  obedient  to  God  in  the  future,  he  is 
under  conviction,  and  under  sufficient  conviction  to  war- 
rant him  in  becoming  a  Christian.  The  distress  which  is 
often  experienced  is  not  itself  conviction,  it  is  simply  the 
result  of  not  yielding  to  or  resisting  conviction.  One 
knows  that  he  ought  to  live  differently  and  he  does  not 
do  so.  He  resists  his  convictions,  and  naturally  his  con- 
science, if  at  all  alive,  begins  to  trouble  and  distress  him. 
It  is  the  struggle  of  a  proud,  unyielding  spirit,  resisting 
the  pressure  of  a  sense  of  duty,  or  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
who  is  striving  to  persuade  him  to  do  his  duty. 

The  reason  why  many  people  pass  through  these  long 
and  distressful  experiences  before  finding  peace  of  mind  is 
that  they  are  headstrong  and  obstinate.  They  are  not 
willing  to  submit.  Their  sufferings  would  have  been 
avoided  if  only  they  had  at  once  yielded  to  their  convic- 
tions of  duty  and  had  promptly  begun  to  be  obedient. 
"When  I  was  a  farmer's  boy,"  says  a  writer  on  this  sub- 
ject, "I  remember  once  on  a  stormy  night  trying  to  get 
the  sheep,  of  which  I  had  the  care,  into  a  safe  shelter. 
Most  of  them  seemed  ready  enough  to  go  into  the  fold, 
but  there  was  one  sheep  that  would  not  do  so.  I  tried 
to  call  him  in,  but  he  stood  outside  stamping  his  feet  and 
shaking  his  head  in  a  very  defiant  manner.  I  tried  to  drive 
him  in,  but  he  would  turn  suddenly  from  the  narrow 
entrance  and  leap  past  me,  and  then  stand  at  a  little 
distance  and  bleat  as  if  he  were  a  deeply  injured  animal. 
At  last,  by  masterly  strategy,  I  succeeded  in  getting  him 
through  the  door  and  in  fastening  it  behind  him.  Once 
in  he  seemed  to  enjoy  the  fold  as  much  as  any  other 
member  of  the  flock."  Had  an  experience-meeting  been 
held  among  the  sheep  and  this  obstinate  fellow  been  per- 


66  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

suaded  to  relate  his  experience,  he  would  have  said  that 
he  had  had  a  terrible  time  in  getting  into  the  fold;  that 
it  was  only,  in  fact,  after  many  struggles  of  mind,  many 
doubts  and  fears,  and  great  inward  commotion,  that  he 
had  succeeded  in  finding  the  entrance  to  the  fold;  but 
then  there  followed  a  great  calm,  and  he  was  conscious 
of  being  filled  with  joy  and  peace.  Now,  the  simple  cause 
of  all  his  trouble  was  obstinacy.  This  sheep  might  have 
gone  into  the  fold  quietly  as  did  all  the  rest  of  the  flock, 
and  thus  have  been  spared  his  struggles.  It  would  have 
been  far  better  for  him  had  he  done  so. 

There  are  many  sheep  in  Christ's  fold  to-day  who  have 
had  much  the  same  sort  of  experience,  and  for  much  the 
same  reason.  They  were  obstinate,  proud,  unwilling  to 
submit  their  wills  to  God.  They  found  no  peace  until 
they  did  submit.  The  better  way  is  to  respond  promptly 
to  the  conviction  of  duty.  We  best  show  our  sorrow 
for  past  neglect  and  sin  by  prompt  obedience  and  faith- 
ful living  in  the  present.  There  are  few  unconverted 
persons  who  have  not  sufficient  conviction  to  warrant 
them  in  beginning  the  Christian  life,  and  in  deciding  to 
begin  it  at  once. 

We  see,  therefore,  that  this  question  of  the  feelings 
holds  a  very  subordinate  relation  to  the  subject  under 
consideration.  The  vital  thing  is  the  decision  to  begin 
an  obedient  life.  It  is  an  act  of  the  will.  It  is  a  voluntary 
self-surrender.  This  is  practical  repentance;  this  is  prac- 
tical faith.  The  yielding  or  the  choosing  is  the  all- 
important  thing.  The  feelings  will  take  care  of  them- 
selves. 

3.  Another  obstacle  in  the  way  of  some,  and  a  com- 
mon obstacle,  too,  is  dread  of  the  new  duties  which  it  is 
supposed  the  Christian  life  will  involve.  "If  I  should 
become  a  Christian/'  says  one,  "I  should  have  to  pray 
in  my  family,  say  grace  at  meals,  pray  in  public,  talk  with 
people  about  their  souls,  perhaps  be  a  preacher;  and  this 
I  never  could  do." 


BEGINNING  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 


67 


In  reply,  it  may  be  said,  first,  that  God  never  lays 
burdens  upon  his  children  which  he  does  not  also  give 
strength  and  help  to  enable  them  to  bear.  Nor,  again, 
does  he  expect  one  just  born  into  the  kingdom  to  take 
up,  without  preparation,  development,  or  experience,  the 
responsibilities  and  the  burdens  which  pertain  to  maturity 
of  Christian  life.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  principle  of 
growth  is  recognized,  and  it  is  cherishing  a  needless 
anxiety  when  one  begins  to  think  of  all  the  possible 
duties  and  cares  of  the  Christian  life,  and  allows  this  to 
be  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  entering  upon  it.  It 
is  much  as  if  a  child  should  shrink  from  learning  its 
letters,  from  dread  of  essays,  declamations,  orations, 
difficult  and  abstruse  problems,  which  belong  to  a  more 
advanced  stage  of  education.  In  a  very  proper  sense 
here,  "sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof,"  and  "as 
thy  days,  so  shall  thy  strength  be."  Preparation  will 
have  been  made  for  all  these  responsibilities  before  they 
appear,  and  the  wonder  then  will  be  that  they  should  ever 
have  been  so  dreaded.  A  large  proportion  of  our  coming 
trials  in  life  are  imaginary.  We  worry  over  them,  dread 
them,  and  when,  at  length,  if  ever,  we  come  to  them, 
they  are  not  at  all  serious. 

Furthermore,  many  of  these  so-called  duties  may  not, 
in  reality,  be  duties  at  all.  Whether  they  are  or  are 
not,  may  be  simply  questions  of  judgment.  Each  person 
has  to  decide  for  himself,  before  his  own  conscience.  It 
is  important  that  people  should  take  part  in  prayer- 
meeting,  but  whether  or  not  it  is  the  duty  of  this  one 
or  that  one  in  particular,  each  must  settle  for  himself. 
Whether  or  not  it  will  become  one's  duty  to  become  a 
preacher,  if  he  becomes  a  Christian,  depends  upon  various 
considerations  which  one  has  nothing  to  do  with  at  the 
beginning  of  his  Christian  career.  It  is  one's  duty  to 
become  a  Christian,  without  reference  to  the  question  of 
the  ministry,  or  of  any  other  calling  in  life.  This  is  to 
be  attended  to  first  of  all.  A  young  man  once  held  off 


68  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

from  beginning  the  Christian  life  for  a  long  time  for  this 
very  reason:  he  feared  that  if  he  became  a  Christian  he 
would  have  to  become  a  minister.  He  was  told  that 
it  was  by  no  means  clear  that  this  would  be  his  duty. 
He  might  not  be  adapted  to  the  ministry,  but  it  was  very 
clear  that  he  ought  to  be  a  Christian.  After  some  time  he 
came  out  clearly  and  decidedly  for  Christ,  went  into  busi- 
ness, and  nothing  more  was  said  about  the  ministry.  A 
few  years  later,  word  was  received  from  him  to  the  effect 
that  he  was  engaged  in  study  at  a  theological  seminary. 
His  feelings  had  so  changed,  he  said,  that  now  he  wanted 
to  preach;  he  could  not  be  contented  in  any  other  calling. 
Similarly  it  often  is  in  regard  to  many  other  dreaded  new 
duties.  If  they  are  duties,  they  will  be  made  to  appear 
such  in  due  time,  and  one  will  be  prepared  for  them.  Not 
only  strength  to  meet  them  will  be  provided,  but,  most 
likely,  one  will  have  an  inclination  to  enter  upon  them. 
Fear  and  dread  will  give  place  to  real  desire. 

It  was  so  in  the  case  of  a  man  who  told  his  minister 
that  the  reason  he  had  so  long  remained  undecided  about 
beginning  the  Christian  life  was  the  fear  and  dread  he 
had  of  supposed  new  duties  which  it  seemed  impossible 
that  he  could  ever  discharge.  He  knew  he  ought  to  be 
a  Christian.  His  wife  and  children  had  all  been  con- 
verted, and  he  was  the  only  one  of  the  family  remaining 
unconverted.  "But,"  said  he,  "I  know  I  could  never 
pray  in  my  family  or  ask  a  blessing,  especially  with  several 
of  my  clerks  present.  If  I  could  have  a  man  come  in  and 
do  these  things  for  me,  I  would  willingly  give  him  twelve 
dollars  a  month/'  He  was  afterward  converted.  The 
minister  asked  him,  pleasantly,  if  he  still  wanted  to  hire 
a  man  at  twelve  dollars  a  month  to  do  his  praying  for 
him.  "Oh,  no,"  said  he,  "I  can  do  that  myself  now." 
His  whole  feeling  about  it  had  changed.  He  no  longer 
dreaded  to  prav  before  others.  He  took  pleasure  in  doing 
so. 

The  difficulty  is,  people  are  all  the  time  trying  to  cross 


BEGINNING  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  69 

bridges  before  they  come  to  them,  multiplying  and  magni- 
fying difficulties  and  duties  which  may  or  may  not  appear. 
The  one  vital  inquiry  is  whether  one  will  or  will  not 
decide  to  begin  the  Christian  life.  That  settled  in  the 
affirmative,  the  way  will  gradually  open,  all  needed  grace 
and  strength  will  be  imparted,  the  mountains  will  become 
as  mole-hills,  the  dread  will  give  place  to  desire.  No  one 
need  hesitate  a  moment  about  beginning  the  Christian  life 
from  dread  of  any  new  duties  which  it  is  supposed  will  be 
involved  in  so  doing. 

4.  Another  difficulty,  which  is  often  one  of  real  con- 
cern, especially  with  the  young,  is  in  regard  to  "giving 
up  things,"  or  the  self-denial  supposed  to  be  involved  in 
the  Christian  life. 

There  might  be,  it  is  to  be  admitted,  some  show  of 
reason  for  shrinking  from  the  Christian  life  on  the  part 
of  those  who  are  young  and  buoyant,  and  who  are  lack- 
ing in  a  full  realization  of  the  tremendous  interests  at 
stake,  were  it  really  true  that  the  Christian  life  were  a 
life  of  self-denials  merely — the  giving  up  of  everything 
pleasant  with  nothing  to  be  received  in  return — did  it 
not  present  any  compensation  or  open  any  new  sources 
of  satisfaction  in  itself.  Yet  even  then,  were  it  a  life 
of  gloom,  of  "thou  shalt  nots,"  and  nothing  else,  of  con- 
stant distress,  with  not  a  redeeming  feature  in  it,  in  so 
far  as  this  life  and  its  enjoyment  are  concerned,  no  one 
could  afford  to  neglect  it.  It  would  be  for  one's  highest 
interests  to  enter  upon  it  at  any  cost.  It  would  be  worth 
infinitely  more  than  all  the  sacrifices  involved. 

But  the  Christian  life  means  something  more  than 
the  giving  up  of  the  things  we  like,  something  more  than 
the  gloomy,  joyless  experience,  which  it  is  often  imagined 
to  be.  It  should  never  be  represented  as  free  from  self- 
denials.  The  sacrifices  it  involves  should  never  be 
concealed.  Self-denial  is  required  here,  as  in  the  attain- 
ment of  any  other  good,  although  a  vast  deal  of  misap- 
prehension prevails  in  regard  to  the  character  and  amount 


70  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

of  it.  Practices  which  are  clearly  sinful  and  wrong  must 
of  course  be  given  up.  Other  practices,  whose  moral 
quality  is  not  so  clear,  must  be  left  to  individual  con- 
science to  restrain  or  lay  aside.  Sometimes  practices 
which  are  not  absolutely  sinful  in  themselves  are  to  be 
given  up  for  the  sake  of  others,  as  when  Paul  declared 
that  if  eating  meat,  which  had  been  offered  to  idols — 
a  thing  harmless  in  itself — would  cause  others  weaker 
in  conscience  than  himself  to  stumble,  he  would  eat  no 
meat  while  the  world  should  stand. 

If  one  is  really  in  earnest,  more  anxious  about  his  soul's 
welfare  than  about  anything  else,  as  one  ought  to  be, 
there  will  be  very  little  difficulty  over  these  questions. 
One  may  well  suspect  himself  and  his  own  sincerity 
if  he  finds  himself  really  stumbling  over  the  question 
as  to  whether  he  will  be  obliged  to  give  up  this  or  that 
in  order  to  be  a  Christian.  If  salvation  is  really  the 
all-important  object  which  we  have  always  been  taught  to 
believe  it  to  be,  one  ought  to  be  willing  to  surrender  any- 
thing and  everything  which  would  seem  in  any  degree  to 
stand  in  the  way  of  securing  it. 

On  the  other  hand — and  this  is  something  which  is 
usually  overlooked  or  not  appreciated — there  are  many 
and  vastly  better  things  received  in  becoming  a  disciple 
of  Christ  than  are  given  up;  more  than  sufficient  to 
counterbalance  any  regret  in  parting  with  them.  There  is 
opened  to  the  mind  a  new  set  of  pleasures.  New  sources 
of  enjoyment  are  discovered  all  along  the  way  of  life, 
just  as  in  certain  mountain  regions  one  comes  upon 
springs  of  water,  bubbling  up  pure  and  sweet,  in  most 
unexpected  places.  As  the  mind  is  taken  up  with  these 
new  Christian  experiences,  many  of  the  old  forms  of 
enjoyment  lose  their  attractiveness.  They  are  outgrown, 
as  the  garments  of  childhood  are  outgrown  and  thrown 
aside,  and  who  ever  murmured  over  the  giving  up  of  his 
outgrown,  worn-out,  cast-off  clothing?  The  writer  once 
climbed  the  Lebanon  Mountains  in  Syria.  From  a  dis- 


BEGINNING  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  ji 

tance  they  appeared  bare  and  rocky,  rugged  and  cheerless. 
It  seemed  as  if  the  ascent,  even  upon  horseback,  would  be 
hard  and  toilsome,  an  experience  to  be  dreaded.  Not 
an  attractive  thing  was  to  be  seen,  although  there  were 
some  objects  of  interest  on  the  other  side  of  the  range,  to 
see  which  was  the  only  incentive  to  the  attempt.  It 
seemed  as  if  there  could  be  little  satisfaction  on  the  way, 
but  as  the  struggle  upward  proceeded,  with  much  winding 
about  between  rocky  ledges,  what  were  the  surprise,  and 
delight  at  discovering  little  villages,  invisible  from  below, 
nestling  here  and  there;  vineyards,  laden  with  luscious 
fruit;  mulberry  and  other  trees,  and  a  great  variety  of 
shrubbery,  to  say  nothing  of  attractive  scenery  on  every 
hand !  The  air  was  bracing,  and  there  was  a  magnificent 
outlook  on  the  country  below  and  upon  the  blue  Mediter- 
ranean in  the  distance,  with  here  and  there  a  sail  upon 
its  placid  waters.  The  panorama  had  beauty  entirely 
unanticipated.  The  journey  proved  to  be  anything  but 
a  hardship.  It  was  full  of  exhilaration  and  delight. 
Instead  of  shrinking  from  that  which  remained,  there 
was  every  incentive  to  press  on,  and  constant  satisfaction 
all  the  way. 

So  the  Christian  life,  looked  at  from  a  distance,  or 
regarded  merely  from  an  external  point  of  view,  may 
seem  like  a  life  of  self-denials,  of  restrictions,  of  hard- 
ships and  gloom,  but  this  is  because  men  do  not  know 
what  it  contains;  what  satisfaction  is  to  be  met  with  on 
every  hand  in  connection  with  it;  what  unexpected 
delights  will  be  disclosed  as  they  advance.  To  one  who 
has  really  entered  upon  the  Christian  life  in  sincerity, 
there  are  constant  and  delightful  surprises  all  the  way 
along.  He  no  longer  thinks  of  the  joys  beyond  as 
the  only  incentive  to  press  on;  his  mind  is  absorbed  with 
the  attractions  on  the  way,  while  the  outlook  grows 
constantly  wider,  brighter,  grander,  and  the  heavenly 
atmosphere  he  is  breathing  is  full  of  exhilaration  and  of 
spiritual  quickening.  One  can  not  know  beforehand,  can 


72  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

not  understand  the  joyous  exchange,  the  treasures  vast 
and  rich,  which  he  is  to  receive  in  return  for  all  the  self- 
denials  involved,  from  incurring  which,  not  unnaturally, 
there  is  shrinking,  until  he  actually  enters  upon  the  new 
life.  These  treasures  may  not  be  fully  appreciated  at 
once,  but  they  will  grow  upon  the  soul,  and  will  be 
experienced  in  constantly  enlarging  measure. 

5.  A  final  difficulty,  or  class  of  difficulties,  to  be 
noticed,  grows  out  of  misconception  respecting  the  con- 
ditions of  salvation.  One  says,  "I  would  like  to  become 
a  Christian,  but  I  do  not  and  cannot  believe  in  existing 
creeds.  I  don't  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  total  depravity, 
i.  e.,  that  men  are  by  nature  as  bad  as  they  can  be.  I 
don't  believe  in  a  literal  lake  of  fire  in  which  the  wicked 
are  to  be  burned;  or  that  I  am  to  be  condemned  for 
Adam's  sin;  or  that  a  few  are  arbitrarily  chosen  to  be 
saved,  and  that  all  the  rest  of  mankind  are  foreordained 
to  be  lost.  If  one  must  subscribe  to  such  doctrines  as 
these  in  order  to  be  a  Christian,  then  I  must  be  counted 
out." 

In  this  case  there  is  the  two-fold  error : — first,  in  assum- 
ing that  becoming  a  Christian  hinges  upon  acceptance 
of  a  creed.  For  such  an  opinion  there  is  not  the  slightest 
warrant  in  the  Scripture.  Second,  in  assuming  that  the 
objectionable  dogmas  referred  to  are  actually  to  be  found 
in  any  existing  creed.  The  first  error  arises  from  an 
entire  misconception  as  to  the  conditions  of  salvation, 
while  the  second  is  not  only  a  perversion  of  the  truth, 
but  is  a  caricature  of  creeds.  Creeds  have  their  use  in 
the  realm  of  religious  belief,  as  platforms  of  principles 
have  their  place  in  the  political  world.  Some  creeds  are 
more  antiquated  than  others,  some  are  so  defective  as 
justly  to  be  open  to  criticism,  but  a  credal  test  in  the 
matter  of  personal  salvation,  as  in  the  case  indicated,  is 
something  entirely  foreign  to  the  teachings  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles. 

Equally  erroneous  is  the  idea  that  in  order  to  become 


BEGINNING  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  £3 

a  Christian,  or  to  enter  upon  the  Christian  life  intel- 
ligently, one  must  understand  all  about  the  Bible,  accept 
all  its  teachings,  and  be  able  to  explain  all  the  difficulties 
which  it  contains.  When  the  question  of  personal  duty 
is  pressed,  frequently  the  answer  is,  "Yes,  I  know  I  ought 
to  be  a  Christian,  but  there  are  many  things  in  the  Scrip- 
tures which  I  do  not  understand  and  can  not  believe,  such 
as  the  sun's  standing  still  on  Gibeon,  or  that  the  earth  and 
the  heavens  were  made  in  a  single  week.  Were  it 
not  for  such  statements  as  these,  I  might  become  a 
Christian." 

But  what  authority  is  there  for  any  such  assumption 
as  this? — for  assumption  it  is.  The  Bible  itself  teaches 
nothing  of  the  sort,  and  those  who  are  stumbling  over 
such  embarrassments  as  these  are  laboring  under  serious 
misapprehension.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  there  are 
things  in  the  Bible  which  are  difficult  to  understand,  yet 
to  such  as  are  open-minded,  most  of  these  difficulties  can 
be  explained  in  a  sufficiently  satisfactory  way. 

But  the  question  before  us  is  not  in  regard  to  the  Bible, 
nor  to  the  things  in  it  which  are  not  easy  to  understand. 
The  question  is  as  to  the  conditions  of  salvation.  These 
conditions  are  clearly  set  forth.  This  distinction  is 
never  to  be  lost  sight  of,  that  to  become  a  Christian  is  one 
thing,  to  understand  everything  in  the  Bible  is  another 
and  a  very  different  thing.  To  do  the  first  is  a  simple 
and  plain  duty;  to  do  the  latter  will  occupy  a  lifetime. 
By  the  terms  of  salvation,  it  is  plain  that  one  may  be  a 
Christian,  and  an  intelligent  Christian,  without  being 
able  to  solve  all  the  difficulties  connected  with  the  explana- 
tion of  the  Bible. 

Another  misconception  is  that  membership  in  the 
visible  church  is  one  of  the  conditions  of  discipleship, 
as  if  the  Master  had  said,  "Join  the  church,  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved."  But  what  Protestant  presumes  to  set 
up  such  a  condition  of  salvation  as  this?  Where  is 
anything  of  the  kind  presented  or  implied  in  the  Word  of 
God? 


74 


POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 


The  importance  of  church-membership  is  not  to  be 
denied.  The  reasons  for  joining  the  church  after  one  has 
become  a  Christian  are  sufficiently  numerous  and  strong 
virtually  to  settle  the  question  in  any  candid  mind.  But 
the  question  as  to  what  one  must  do  to  be  saved,  or  to 
enter  into  right  relations  with  God,  is  a  very  different 
question  from  that  of  church-membership,  and  the  answer 
to  it  is  given  over  and  over  again,  and  in  the  most  unmis- 
takable terms,  in  the  Word  of  God.  It  is  to  believe  on 
and  to  come  into  union  with  Jesus  Christ. 

Still  again,  the  idea  is  prevalent  with  many  people,  that, 
in  order  to  be  an  acceptable  Christian,  one  must  first  of 
all  attain  to  a  certain  standard  of  goodness.  "I  am  not 
good  enough,"  is  one  of  the  very  common  reasons  urged 
against  becoming  a  Christian.  This  is  a  great  and 
serious  misapprehension.  Nowhere  in  the  Bible  is  such 
a  condition  of  salvation  set  forth.  The  question  is  not 
primarily  as  to  how  good  or  how  bad  one  is,  but  whether 
one  is  willing  to  turn  from  known  sin  and  to  become 
obedient  to  God  and  to  duty.  All  are  alike  sinners 
before  Him  with  whom  we  have  to  do,  all  alike  need 
forgiveness ;  and  precisely  as  much  encouragement  is  held 
out  that  the  most  degraded  sinner  will  be  pardoned  and 
saved,  if  he  repents,  as  that  the  sinner  will  be  saved  who 
moves  in  the  most  respectable  society  and  who  has  never 
fallen  so  low.  The  way  is  open,  through  Christ,  to 
all  alike,  and  upon  the  same  terms.  It  is  to  forsake 
sin  with  full  purpose  of  the  heart,  and  to  turn  to  Jesus 
Christ  in  obedience  and  love.  The  moment  one  does 
this  in  sincerity,  whether  he  be  uncultured  and  besotted, 
or  refined  and  a  member  of  the  most  select  circle,  he  is 
an  accepted  Christian.  The  moral  or  goodness  test  of 
acceptance  with  God  is  not  found  in  the  Bible. 

The  truth  is,  these  various  misconceptions  respecting 
the  condition  of  salvation  or  of  acceptance  with  God, 
have  somehow  found  lodgment  in  many  minds,  and  are 
doing  incalculable  mischief.  By  reason  of  them,  many 


BEGINNING  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 


75 


are  hindered  from  entering  the  kingdom.  The  condition 
of  salvation  is  not  that  one  must  perfectly  understand, 
or  even  believe  every  statement  of  Scripture,  although 
the  Bible  itself,  properly  interpreted,  is  trustworthy;  it 
is  not  to  accept  some  specific  creed  or  any  creed  at  all; 
it  is  not  to  attain  to  a  certain  standard  of  goodness  or 
morality,  although,  if  one  be  soundly  converted,  morality 
and  goodness  will  follow;  it  is  not  to  join  the  visible 
church,  although  to  one  who  is  truly  a  Christian  that 
is  the  natural  step  to  take,  and  the  step  which  he  will 
probably  want  to  take;  it  is  not  to  go  forward  to  a 
mourners'  bench,  or  to  rise  for  prayers,  or  to  speak  in 
meeting,  although  these  may  be  helps  in  coming  to  a 
decision;  it  is  not  to  hold  to  some  particular  theory  or 
view  of  the  ordinances — the  nature  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
or  the  particular  mode  of  baptism.  No  man  has  any 
right  to  set  up  any  tests  which  are  not  divinely  authorized, 
as  none  of  these  which  have  been  indicated  are. 

The  condition  of  salvation,  as  laid  down  by  Christ  over 
and  over  again,  and  in  various  forms  of  expression,  is 
very  simple,  and  it  is  extremely  important  to  disentangle 
it  from  the  false  tests  which  are  so  prevalent,  and  which 
are  sometimes  clung  to  with  such  persistence.  The  simple 
condition  is  repentance  and  faith;  a  sincere  purpose,  with 
divine  help,  to  abandon  every  known  sin,  and  to  be  loyal 
and  obedient  toward  Jesus  Christ.  Instead  of  saying, 
"Believe  in  the  Bible  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,"  or,  "Accept 
a  creed,"  or  "Join  the  church,"  or  "Attain  to  a  certain 
standard  of  goodness,"  the  New  Testament  says,  "Believe 
on  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  Other  con- 
siderations have  their  place,  but  faith  alone  is  the  condition 
of  salvation.  This  is  fundamental.  When  one  fulfils  this 
condition,  he  is  a  Chrstian,  whether  he  understands  the 
Bible  fully,  or  only  partially;  whether  he  is  able  to  formu- 
late his  beliefs,  or  holds  them  vaguely;  whether  his  char- 
acter is  firmly  established,  or  is  gradually  growing 
stronger  and  purer.  The  moment  one  turns  to  Christ  in 


76  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

the  spirit  of  confidence  and  love,  that  moment  one  is 
accepted,  that  moment  one  begins  the  Christian  life,  that 
moment  he  becomes  an  heir  of  salvation.  Could  any- 
thing be  simpler  or  plainer?  Is  there  anything 
mysterious  about  it?  Is  there  anything  really  to  cause 
one  to  hesitate,  except  his  own  unwillingness  to  give 
up  sin? 

Were  one  to  begin  the  Christian  life  to-day,  the  first 
thing  would  be  to  yield  to  the  promptings  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  to  decide  to  begin  a  life  of  obedience  to  God  and 
duty;  the  next  to  shape  his  course  accordingly.  He 
should  take  up  the  first  duty  which  presents  itself,  no 
matter  what  it  is,  and  do  it  faithfully  as  unto  the  Lord. 
He  should  then  take  up  the  next  duty,  then  the  next,  and 
so  on,  discharging  each  one  with  the  same  fidelity  as  if 
Christ  himself  had  personally  laid  the  responsibility  upon 
him.  The  first  duty  might  be  to  settle  a  personal  diffi- 
culty with  a  neighbor,  or  to  forgive  an  offending  one. 
It  might  be  to  get  one's  lessons  better  at  school,  lessons 
which  have  been  neglected.  It  might  be  to  give  up  an 
evil  companionship,  or  to  break  off  a  bad  habit,  or  to  take 
up  one's  dusty  Bible  and  read  it,  or  to  begin  to  pray,  or 
to  visit  some  one  in  need,  to  be  more  faithful  to  one's 
employer,  or  more  upright  and  conscientious  in  one's 
business  transactions.  Whatever  is  clearly  presented  to 
one's  mind  as  duty,  whether  from  one's  providential  rela- 
tions in  life,  or  as  it  is  suggested  by  the  Spirit,  or  through 
reading  the  divine  Word — whatever  is  shown  to  be  duty, 
that  one  is  now  to  do,  and  to  do  it  in  the  spirit  of  love,  as 
unto  the  Lord.  We  are  to  seek  to  live  up  to  our  honest 
convictions  of  right,  constantly  seeking  more  light  and 
God's  help,  and  to  continue  in  this  way  through  life. 

Were  one  to  follow  out  the  suggestions  above  given, 
he  would  enter  upon  the  Christian  life,  would  live  it  from 
day  to  day,  and,  continuing  to  do  so,  would  find  it  a  sweet 
and  satisfactory  life.  Conscience  would  no  longer  dis- 
turb; God  would  no  longer  condemn.  Christ  would  be 


BEGINNING  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  77 

recognized  as  one's  Saviour,  one's  friend,  one's  Lord. 
All  one's  hopes  would  center  on  him.  The  past,  with 
its  short-comings  and  sins,  would  be  forgiven;  the  present, 
with  its  self-denials,  which,  prompted  by  love,  would  no 
longer  be  self-denials,  would  be  full  of  satisfaction;  the 
future  would  be  radiant  with  glory.  All  is  very  simple. 
Need  any  one  who  really  desires  to  enter  upon  the 
Christian  life  hesitate  for  a  moment?  If  one  does  delay, 
if  he  puts  it  off,  pleads  this  reason  or  that,  is  it  not 
primarily  because  he  is  unwilling  to  obey  the  command  of 
his  Lord  ? 

The  main  difficulty  is  always  with  the  will.  That  is 
the  one  thing  which  must  be  surrendered,  and  it  is  the 
one  thing  which  people  are  the  least  willing  to  surrender. 
This  is  the  one  obstacle  which  overtops  all  others.  It  is 
not  that  one  does  not  understand  enough;  not  that  one 
has  not  enough  conviction,  or  enough  feeling;  there  is 
really  nothing  in  the  way  but  a  stubborn  will.  With  a 
willing  spirit,  the  whole  matter  would  at  once  be  settled. 
The  Christian  life  would  already  be  begun.  The  funda- 
mental and  vital  thing  is  to  be  willing.  Then  Christ 
comes  to  the  soul.  Then  there  is  forgiveness,  and  that 
instant  one  becomes  a  child  of  God,  an  heir  of  heaven. 
One  may  not  have  a  full  and  realizing  sense  of  all  the 
blessedness  of  the  Christian  life,  a  clear  consciousness 
of  it  at  the  outset,  but  this  will  come  in  time,  increasing 
day  by  day.  Why  then  should  any  one  who  is  not  a 
Christian  delay?  Why  "not  begin  now? 

A  writer  has  gathered  together  a  number  of  Scripture 
answers  to  objections  which  are  often  urged  for  delay  in 
becoming  a  Christian: 

Is  it  because  you  are  afraid  of  ridicule  ?  "Whosoever 
shall  be  ashamed  of  me  and  of  my  words,  of  him  shall 
the  Son  of  man  be  ashamed"  (Luke  9 :  26). 

Is  it  because  of  the  inconsistencies  of  professing 
Christians?  "Each  one  of  us  shall  give  account  of 
himself  to  God"  (Rom.  14:  12). 


78  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

Are  you  not  willing  to  give  up  all  to  Christ?  "What 
doth  it  profit  a  man,  to  gain  the  whole  world,  and  forfeit 
his  life?"  (Mark  8 136). 

Are  you  afraid  you  will  not  be  accepted  ?  "Him  that 
cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out"  (John  6:  37). 

Is  it  for  fear  you  are  too  great  a  sinner?  "The 
blood  of  Jesus  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin" 
(i  John  1:7). 

Is  it  because  you  fear  you  will  not  hold  out?  "He 
which  began  a  good  work  in  you  will  perfect  it  until  the 
day  of  Jesus  Christ"  (Phil,  i :  6). 

Are  you  thinking  that  you  will  do  as  well  as  you  can, 
and  that  God  ought  to  be  satisfied  with  that?  "Whoso- 
ever shall  keep  the  whole  law,  and  yet  stumble  in  one 
point,  he  is  become  guilty  of  all"  (James  2 :  10). 

Is  it  because  you  are  postponing  the  matter  without  any 
definite  reason?  "Boast  not  thyself  of  to  morrow; 
for  thou  knowest  not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth" 
(Prov.  27:  i). 

The  invitation  is  pressing.  "Now  is  the  acceptable 
time."  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  Come,  for  "him  that 
cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  Come,  "for 
the  Son  of  man  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which 
was  lost."  Come,  for  "there  is  joy  in  the  presence  of 
the  angels  of  God  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth."  Come, 
for  "The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come.  And  he  that 
heareth,  let  him  say,  Come.  And  he  that  is  athirst,  let 
him  come:  he  that  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life 
freely." 


POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS    AS  TO    LIVING   THE 
CHRISTIAN    LIFE 

The  number  and  variety  of  misconceptions  which  pre- 
vail among  the  unconverted  as  to  what  it  is  and  what  it 
means  to  enter  upon  the  Christian  life  are  a  constant 
surprise.  The  existence  of  these  misconceptions  is  a 
serious  hindrance  to  many  who  sincerely  desire  to  become 
followers  of  Christ.  To  many  it  is  exceedingly  difficult 
to  make  it  clear  that  instead  of  being  the  complicated  and 
distressful  experience  which  is  imagined,  entrance  upon 
the  Christian  life  is  in  reality  a  very  simple  and  easy 
thing. 

But  not  simply  with  reference  to  beginning  the 
Christian  life  do  misconceptions  prevail.  They  prevail 
as  to  what  this  life  is,  what  it  is  to  live  it  day  after  day, 
what  is  the  true  Biblical  conception  of  it,  what  its  pervad- 
ing spirit  should  be.  Erroneous  views,  based  upon  half- 
truths,  are  not  uncommon.  Disproportionate  emphasis 
is  often  laid  upon  some  one  aspect  of  the  Christian  life. 
In  consequence,  the  development  of  Christian  life  and 
character  frequently  becomes  so  abnormal  and  unsym- 
metrical  that  the  Christian  religion  is  misrepresented 
before  the  world,  and  many  who  otherwise  might  be  led 
to  embrace  it,  reject  it. 

One  of  these  misconceptions,  and  the  first  which  we 
will  notice,  may  be  termed  the  passive  misconception. 
The  Christian  life  is  looked  upon  as  a  state  or  condition 
of  mind,  the  possession  of  which  relieves  one  of  all 
further  responsibility.  To  "experience  religion"  and 
join  the  chtirch  are  all  that  is  required.  Ever  after  one 
folds  the  hands  and  patiently  awaits  entrance  into  the 

79 


go  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

heavenly  city,  where,  in  the  midst  of  dazzling  glories,  one 
is  to  be  the  passive  recipient  of  blessings  unnumbered, 
and  "sing  oneself  away  to  everlasting  bliss." 

Such  a  conception  of  the  Christian  life,  even  though  not 
definitely  formulated,  is  a  delusion  and  a  snare.  In  it 
religion  ends  where  in  reality  it  only  begins.  By  reason 
of  this  misconception,  many  drift  back  into  worldly,  self- 
seeking  ways,  until  only  by  consulting  church  records  is 
there  any  evidence  that  they  have  ever  seriously  con- 
sidered the  question  of  personal  religion. 

In  reality,  conversion  is  the  beginning  of  the  new  life. 
It  marks  the  first  step  in  the  formation  of  a  righteous, 
Christlike  character  and  in  positive  and  aggressive  service 
for  the  Master.  The  "right-about-face"  from  delight  in 
evil  to  the  choice  of  good,  is  but  the  commencement  of  the 
journey  which  is  to  be  made.  Many  a  battle  is  still  to 
be  fought  before  the  victory  over  selfishness  and  sin  will 
be  fully  gained.  Every  one  ought  to  see  that  true 
religion  means  something  more  than  a  sentiment;  that 
it  is  something  definite,  positive,  practical  in  its  nature; 
that  it  is  a  vocation,  and  that  only  as  he  lives  in  active 
sympathy  with  Christ,  breathes  his  Spirit,  walks  in  his 
footsteps,  is  he  warranted  in  believing  that  his  hopes  of 
salvation  are  well  grounded. 

Then,  there  is  what  may  be  termed  the  negative  con- 
ception of  the  Christian  life.  To  enter  upon  it,  one  must 
guard  against  the  doing  of  many  things.  He  is  con- 
stantly confronted  with  an  array  of  "shalt  nots."  "Thou 
shalt  not  steal,"  "Thou  shalt  not  kill,"  "Thou  shalt  not 
bear  false  witness."  The  virtues  which  he  contemplates 
are  all  of  negative  character,  and  grow  out  of  simply 
refraining  from  doing  wrong,  from  resisting  evil,  from 
opposing  error,  from  fighting  iniquity  in  its  various 
forms. 

Certainly,  this  is  an  important  part  of  Christian  obliga- 
tion, but  is  by  no  means  the  whole  of  it.  We  are  enjoined 
not  only  to  "cease  to  do  evil,"  but  also  to  "learn  to  do 


LIVING  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  gl 

well;"  not  merely  to  resist  evil  and  falsehood,  but  to 
develop  the  good  and  the  true;  not  simply  to  destroy  the 
works  of  the  devil,  but  to  promote  positive  righteousness 
and  truth  in  the  world. 

This  negative  view  is  good  as  far  as  it  goes,  but  it 
does  not  go  far  enough.  It  is  based  upon  a  half-truth, 
and  not  the  better  half  either.  To  fight  evil  directly, 
making  that  one's  main  aim,  although  this  may  some- 
times be  necessary,  is  by  no  means  the  surest  way  of 
conquering  it.  The  most  effective  way,  in  dealing  with 
Canada  thistles,  is  to  occupy  the  ground  which  they  cum- 
ber with  something  which  springs  from  a  good  seed.  In 
the  very  process  of  cultivating  the  soil,  so  as  to  secure  a 
harvest,  the  thistles  are  gradually  uprooted  and  de- 
stroyed. Thistles  of  evil  and  error  are  most  effectively 
removed  in  the  same  way. 

There  is  also  the  ascetic  view  of  Christianity.  If  this 
is  not  as  common  as  it  once  was,  it  still  exists.  Personal 
holiness  is  to  be  cultivated,  not  while  remaining  in  the 
world,  but  by  withdrawing  from  it.  God  is  to  be  honored 
and  served,  not  by  active  ministrations  among  men,  but 
by  devoting  oneself  to  meditation  and  prayer,  to  the  study 
of  the  Scriptures,  and  to  holy  exercises.  This  to  many  is 
the  ideal  holy  life.  Thus,  we  often  hear  people  saying 
that,  if  they  could  only  change  their  circumstances,  get 
away  from  their  temptations  and  besetments,  and  give  un- 
divided attention  to  the  cultivation  of  their  Christian  life, 
they  would  certainly  make  spiritual  attainments  which 
for  them  are  now  impossible.  This  is  the  view  of  the 
monks,  which  led  them  to  hide  in  deserts  and  mountains, 
to  occupy  cells  and  monasteries,  to  fast,  to  expose  them- 
selves to  cold  and  storm,  thinking  that  by  so  doing  they 
were  offering  acceptable  service  and  sacrifice  to  the  Lord. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  were  only  wasting  in  idleness 
and  useless  self-torture  the  gifts  which  God  had  bestowed 
upon  them. 

Such   a   conception   of   the   Christian   life   as   this   is 


VI 


82  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

abnormal,  unwholesome,  unscriptural.  The  verdict  of 
history  is  against  it.  True,  we  are  commanded  to  be 
separate  from  the  world,  but  the  separation  is  to  be 
inward,  in  spirit  and  purpose.  No  change  in  outward 
circumstances  can  regenerate  the  soul  or  cleanse  it  from 
sin.  Strength  of  character  and  spiritual  growth  are 
secured  by  the  conflicts  of  life.  The  oak  on  the  prairie, 
exposed  to  winds  and  storms,  is  hardy  and  tough.  The 
oak  deep  in  the  forest  is  relatively  weak.  While  we  are 
still  to  be  in  the  world,  we  are  not  to  be  of  it. 

Furthermore,  the  world,  with  all  its  weakness,  suffer- 
ing and  sorrow,  needs  our  help.  We  are  commanded  to 
minister  to  the  needs  of  our  fellow  men.  To  withdraw 
from  society,  and  spend  all  one's  time  and  energy  in 
seeking  to  save  one's  own  soul,  is  not  only  disobedience  to 
God,  it  is  downright  selfishness  and  cowardice.  While 
we  are  enjoined  to  keep  ourselves  unspotted  from  the 
world,  we  are  also  to  visit  the  widow  and  the  fatherless 
in  their  affliction. 

We  may  next  notice  what  may  be  termed  the  emotional 
conception  of  Christian  living.  Here  the  state  of  the 
feelings  is  the  all-important  consideration.  The  emo- 
tions and  the  feelings  are  made  the  test  of  religious  con- 
dition. If  one  is  consciously  happy,  all  is  well;  if  not, 
the  Lord  has  withdrawn  his  gracious  influences.  If 
one  would  understand  his  religious  condition  at  any  time, 
would  know  whether  one  is  growing  in  grace  or  back- 
sliding, there  must  an  examination  of  the  feelings. 
These  are  made  a  spiritual  barometer.  Such  a  course  is 
not  wiser  than  that  of  the  boy  who  plants  seeds  in  his 
garden  and  then  goes  out  every  day  and  digs  them  up 
to  see  if  they  have  sprouted. 

The  emotional  view  of  the  Christian  life  is  a  very 
superficial  one  for  us  to  take.  The  feelings  are  largely 
involuntary.  They  come  and  go.  They  are  dependent 
upon  a  variety  of  influences,  not  always  under  our  control. 
The  weather,  the  condition  of  the  nerves,  the  state  of  the 


LIVING  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  83 

stomach  or  liver,  or  the  natural  temperament,  very 
largely  determine  their  nature.  The  vital  question  is  not 
how  one  happens  to  feel  at  a  given  time,  but  what  is  the 
supreme,  all-controlling  purpose  in  life.  Is  it  to  serve 
and  obey  God,  or  is  it  to  live  for  self  and  the  world  ?  If 
the  former,  and  the  daily  life  harmonizes  with  this  pur- 
pose, then  one  is  a  Christian,  even  if  there  are  interrup- 
tions in  one's  spiritual  happiness  or  joy. 

While  riding  in  the  cars  in  Switzerland,  I  fell  in  with 
a  gentleman  from  this  country,'  who  tried  to  entertain  me 
by  reading  aloud  from  his  diary,  which  stated  that  on 
Monday  he  did  not  feel  very  well;  Tuesday,  felt  some 
better;  Wednesday,  very  miserable;  Thursday,  slightly 
improved;  Friday,  down  again,  very  bad;  Saturday  fore- 
noon, quite  well — afternoon,  wretched.  I  wondered 
whether  this  man  had  no  higher  aim  in  keeping  a  diary 
while  traveling  abroad  than  merely  to  record  the  fluctua- 
tions of  his  feelings.  If  only  he  had  turned  his  thoughts 
away  from  himself,  and  had  become  interested  in  the 
grand  and  glorious  scenery,  not  only  would  his  dreadful 
morbidness  have  been  relieved,  his  health  would  have  been 
improved.  Certainly,  he  would  have  been  a  more  agree- 
able companion. 

If  introspective,  emotional  Christians  would  dwell  less 
upon  their  feelings,  cease  viewing  them  as  a  barometer 
of  spiritual  attainment,  occupy  their  minds  with  the  great 
ends  of  Christian  living,  become  absorbed  in  Christ's 
work,  their  spiritual  health  would  be  better,  they  would 
grow  in  grace  more  rapidly,  and  would  be  far  more  win- 
some as  companions  along  the  dusty  way  we  are  compelled 
to  travel. 

Then,  there  is  the  legal  view  of  the  Christian  life.  It 
is  a  round  of  duties,  hard  and  disagreeable,  a  life  of  strict 
conscientiousness,  of  literal  and  exact  obedience  to  the 
commandments.  Such  conscientious  devotion  to  duty  is 
not  to  be  lightly  esteemed.  It  should  be  encouraged.  It 
is  refreshing,  when  so  many  are  lacking  in  this  respect, 


84  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

to  meet  with  people  who  are  thoroughly  devoted  to  con- 
science and  to  principle.  Over-conscientiousness  should 
be  tenderly  criticized. 

But  the  Christian  religion  is  something  more  than  a  life 
of  duty  in  the  hard,  literal  sense  of  that  word.  The  heart 
and  life  are  dominated  by  love,  so  that  the  performance 
of  duty  becomes  easy  and  delightful.  Love  animates  us 
in  everything.  Yet  duty  as  a  motive  is  not  to  be  dis- 
paraged, although  it  is  not  the  highest  motive.  We  may 
look  upon  it  as  a  balance-wheel  to  keep  the  machinery  in 
motion  when  other  and  higher  motives  fail  us.  But 
no  Christian  should  be  satisfied  to  live  simply  under  the 
impulse  of  duty.  He  should  strive  to  rise  from  this 
lower  plane  of  mere  obligation  to  that  of  love;  from 
bondage  to  the  letter  to  the  liberty  of  the  spirit.  These 
legal  Christians  are  still  in  the  Old  Testament,  under 
law,  when  they  might  be  in  the  New  Testament,  under 
grace,  where  there  is  liberty,  where  the  yoke  of  Christ  is 
easy,  and  where  his  burden  is  light. 

Related  to  the  views  above  mentioned,  and  growing  out 
of  them,  there  is  the  gloomy  view.  There  are  those  who 
convey  the  impresion  to  others  that  the  Christian  religion 
is  solemn,  joyless,  unattractive.  From  their  general 
bearing,  one  would  infer  that  they  regard  it  as  wicked  to 
smile,  a  sin  to  be  cheerful  or  buoyant  and  hopeful.  They 
seem  constantly  to  be  afraid  of  too  much  levity,  frown 
upon  and  check  all  the  natural,  overflowing  spirits  of 
youth.  They  seem  to  take  a  morbidly  serious  view  of 
everything.  In  this  they  misrepresent  the  Christian 
religion,  and  to  such  an  extent  that  those  who  have  not 
accepted  Christ,  instead  of  being  attracted  to  him,  are 
repelled  and  kept  out  of  the  kingdom. 

Various  causes  may  lead  to  this  conception  of  Chris- 
tianity— a  naturally  somber  temperament,  serious  and  pro- 
longed trials,  the  habit  of  looking  at  everything  from  a 
legal  point  of  view;  or  it  may  spring  from  an  unhealthy 
physical  condition,  from  unstrung  nerves,  from  bad  diges- 


LIVING  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  85 

tion,  or  from  other  ailments,  in  which  case  one's  first  duty 
is  to  try  to  get  well.  With  restoration  to  physical 
health,  one's  spiritual  skies  brighten.  But  whatever  the 
cause,  this  gloomy  view  is  not  the  true  and  Scriptural 
view.  In  its  very  nature,  the  Christian  religion  is 
joyous,  joy-producing,  promotive  of  a  cheerful,  hopeful 
spirit. 

A  college  student  was  influenced  to  become  a  Christian 
very  largely  by  the  fact  that  his  associate,  who  was  an 
earnest  and  active  believer,  was  also  always  hearty  and 
cheery  in  his  manner,  full  of  fun  and  frolic.  The  uncon- 
verted student  had  been  brought  up  to  take  a  gloomy  view 
of  the  Christian  religion,  and  had  been  repelled  by  it,  but 
the  daily  life  of  his  friend,  showing  him  that  there  was 
no  inconsistency  between  Christian  earnestness  and  a 
buoyant  cheerfulness,  set  him  to  thinking,  and  finally  led 
him  to  his  Saviour.  We  must  not  forget  that  we  are  to 
"serve  the  Lord  with  gladness." 

The  views  which  I  have  mentioned  are  samples  of 
misconceptions  which  prevail  in  regard  to  the  nature  of 
the  Christian  religion  and  Christian  life.  While  not 
entirely  erroneous,  they  are  sufficiently  so  to  be  mis- 
leading, and  are  frequently  exceedingly  harmful  in  their 
effects.  There  is  some  truth  in  each  of  them,  but  partial 
views  are  sometimes  as  mischievous  as  positive  errors. 

What,  then,  is  the  Biblical  conception  of  the  Christian 
life?  What  is  the  true  nature  and  the  real  extent  of 
Christian  service? 

First  of  all,  there  must  be  the  decision,  or  choice,  or 
purpose  to  live  for  God,  for  his  cause,  for  the  right, 
instead  of  living  for  the  world  and  for  self.  God's  will 
is  to  be  supreme.  A  new  and  all-comprehensive  principle 
or  spirit  is  to  dominate  the  entire  life.  That  principle 
or  spirit  is  love,  in  the  large,  broad,  Christian  sense;  a 
loyal  devotion  to  God,  with  righteousness  and  good  will 
toward  our  fellow  men,  and  even  toward  those  who 
despitefully  use  us. 


86  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

To  live  the  Christian  life,  after  one  has  entered  upon  it 
in  good  faith,  is  to  carry  this  new  spirit  and  purpose  into 
everything  one  does.  It  is  to  be  lovingly  loyal  to  God. 
It  is  to  do  everything  as  unto  him.  It  is  to  try  to  do 
just  right  by  one's  fellow  men  in  all  relations.  It  is  to 
do  others  good  as  there  is  opportunity,  and  to  want  to  do 
them  good  all  the  time.  Duty  is  to  be  performed  in  this 
spirit  of  Christian  love,  and  with  the  same  conscientious 
fidelity  as  if  the  Lord  himself  had  personally  assigned  it, 
and  it  were  being  done  in  his  presence  and  under  his 
eye.  Thus  the  entire  range  of  the  Christian  life  and  its 
varied  responsibilities  are  to  be  regulated  by  the  precept, 
"Whether  therefore  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do, 
do  all  to  the  glory  of  God." 

This  being  the  case,  the  usual  conception  of  the  nature 
and  extent  of  acceptable  Christian  service,  or  of  what 
serving  the  Lord  is,  does  not  include  enough:  its  scope 
needs  to  be  greatly  enlarged.  Many  erroneous  impres- 
sions prevail  in  regard  to  it.  If  one  is  serving  the  Lord 
when  engaged  in  specifically  religious  work,  may  he  not 
serve  him  with  equal  intensity,  and  with  equal  certainty 
of  the  divine  approval,  in  his  business  or  in  the  discharge 
of  professional  or  social  duties?  May  not  fidelity  here 
be  counted  as  Christian  service,  or  must  it  be  set  aside 
as  something  purely  secular  ? 

A  man  toils  day  after  day,  week  after  week,  in  shop 
or  office  or  store  or  farm  or  in  a  factory.  On  one  evening 
of  the  week  he  goes  to  prayer-meeting.  In  this  he  feels 
that  he  is  serving  the  Lord.  Is  he  not  serving  him  also 
in  work  which  has  occupied  him  all  the  rest  of  the  week  ? 
Has  only  the  prayer-meeting  hour  been  devoted  to  Chris- 
tian service?  A  woman  visits  a  sick  neighbor,  carries 
delicacies  to  her,  talks  with  her  encouragingly,  reads 
to  her  helpful  Scripture  passages,  kneels  in  prayer  at 
her  bedside,  and  rejoices  that  she  is  able  to  do  that 
much  at  any  rate  for  the  Lord,  and  that  he  accepts 
her  service.  But  she  does  not  dare  to  think  that  her 


LIVING  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  87 

burdensome  household  duties  at  home  are  of  a  similar 
sacred  character,  or  that  in  caring  for  her  children,  sew- 
ing and  mending  for  them,  toiling  in  the  kitchen,  she  is 
also  rendering  acceptable  service  to  the  Lord.  In  the  true 
conception  of  Christian  service,  all  this  should  be  in- 
cluded. If  a  man  is  faithful  in  doing  his  duty  in  his 
secular  toil,  carrying  the  Christian  spirit  and  Christian 
conscientiousness  into  it,  he  is  rendering  service  to  the 
Lord  as  truly  as  when  he  goes  to  the  prayer-meeting.  The 
Lord  certainly  accepts  as  readily  the  faithful  labors  of  the 
mother  in  her  home  duties,  if  they  are  performed  in  the 
Christian  spirit,  as  when  she  ministers  at  the  bedside  of  a 
sick  neighbor. 

The  importance  of  distinctly  religious  service  cannot  be 
overestimated.  The  obligation  to  engage  in  it  is  urgent 
and  pressing,  and  in  the  adjustment  of  our  varied  respon- 
sibilities as  large  a  place  should  be  assigned  to  it  as 
possible.  But  what  is  here  emphasized  is  that  this  is  not 
the  only  Christian  service.  Even  the  most  secular  work, 
so  termed,  if  done  "as  unto  the  Lord,"  is  as  truly  Chris- 
tian service  as  the  other.  Thus  the  distinction  which  is 
often  made  between  our  work  and  the  Lord's  work,  be- 
tween secular  duties  and  religious  obligations,  is  incorrect. 
Everything  is  to  be  done  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  when 
so  done,  it  is  acceptable  Christian  service. 

But  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten,  rather  it  is  to  be  empha- 
sized that,  to  constitute  acceptable  Christian  service,  all 
this  so-called  secular  work  is  to  be  performed  conscien- 
tiously and  well.  In  the  Lord's  service  there  is  no  place 
for  shams  or  deceits.  Sometimes  this  practical  phase  of 
the  subject  is  not  sufficiently  appreciated.  Those  who 
would  never  think  of  uttering  a  false  or  profane  word,  or 
of  committing  a  dishonorable  act,  or  of  violating  any  of 
the  ten  commandments,  will  sometimes  perform  their 
regular  work  carelessly,  slightingly,  imperfectly.  Yet  in 
reality  it  is  just  as  sinful  as  to  be  profane  or  dishonest, 
knowingly  to  neglect  an  employer's  interests;  or  for  a 


88  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

tailor  to  sew  up  a  seam  so  that  it  will  give  way  at  the 
first  strain;  for  a  shoemaker  to  put  on  a  patch  which  will 
not  hold;  for  one  to  put  inferior  material  or  bad  work- 
manship into  a  watch,  or  a  house,  or  a  man-of-war,  or  to 
use  light  weights,  or  a  short  yardstick,  or  to  adulterate 
food,  or  to  defraud  in  any  other  way.  Wherein  is  there 
any  difference  ? 

An  ancient  sculptor  who  wrought  with  marvelous  pains, 
even  at  the  back  part  of  a  figure,  was  once  asked  why 
he  carved  the  tresses  of  the  statue's  head  so  gracefully. 
"The  statue  will  stand  high  up  in  its  niche,  with  its  back 
to  the  wall,  and  no  one  will  see  it."  "Ah,  but  the  gods 
will  see  it,"  was  the  sublime  answer.  So  must  we  do  all 
parts  of  our  work  with  similar  conscientious  fidelity,  if 
we  would  render  acceptable  service  to  the  Lord. 

We  see  thus  how  practical  a  thing  the  Christian  life  is, 
and  how  radical  and  thoroughgoing  a  change  is  involved 
in  becoming  a  Christian.  It  means  a  right  attitude  to- 
ward both  God  and  our  fellow  men.  The  great,  all- 
embracing  principle  of  Christian  love,  with  its  two  ele- 
ments of  righteousness  and  good  will,  is  to  rule  the  heart 
and  control  the  entire  life,  while  all  that  one  does  is  to  be 
done  to  God's  glory. 

One  or  two  practical  thoughts  are  suggested  in  con- 
clusion : — 

i.  This  larger  conception  of  the  nature  and  extent  of 
Christian  service  helps  to  throw  light  upon  various  prac- 
tical questions  of  life  and  duty.  If  every  part  of  a  truly 
consecrated  life  is  to  be  regarded  as  Christian  service, 
then  a  Christian  is  not  warranted  in  engaging  in  anything 
into  which  this  spirit  of  consecration  cannot  be  carried, 
or  upon  which  God's  blessing  cannot  be  sought.  If  this 
would  tend  to  cut  off,  as  inconsistent,  some  things  which 
we  may  have  been  accustomed  to  do,  it  will  also  exalt 
some  other  things  which  are  not  usually  thought  of  as 
belonging  to  Christian  service.  If  we  need  recreation, 
that  recreation,  if  of  a  proper  sort,  becomes  acceptable 


LIVING  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  89 

Christian  service,  as  truly  so  as  regular  toil,  or  religious 
work,  and  it  is  to  be  entered  upon  in  that  belief.  If  this 
is  true,  then  it  is  our  privilege  to  feel  that  in  the  use  of  a 
wheel  for  needed  physical  exercise,  or  in  taking  a  sum- 
mer's outing  for  the  rest  and  recreation  which  are  essen- 
tial to  the  highest  efficiency  in  God's  service,  we  are 
pleasing  him  as  truly  as  when  engaged  in  the  performance 
of  regular  Christian  duties. 

So  in  regard  to  the  use  of  money.  We  are  wont  to 
think  that  whatever  is  devoted  to  the  support  of  the 
church,  or  to  charity,  or  in  sending  missionaries  to  the 
heathen,  is  so  much  contributed  to  the  Lord.  It  is.  But 
so  is  all  other  money  which  is  spent  in  meeting  necessary 
and  proper  expenses  of  whatever  character,  as  in  the 
support  of  one's  family,  in  providing  and  beautifying  a 
home,  in  educating  children,  in  paying  just  taxes.  We 
are  to  regard  our  money  as  having  been  entrusted  to  us 
by  the  Lord,  and  we  are  to  employ  it  in  such  ways,  and  in 
such  ways  only,  as  wre  think  he  will  approve.  Doing 
this,  we  may  feel  assured  of  his  blessing,  even  in  con- 
nection with  our  secular  expenses,  as  truly  as  in  giving 
for  distinctively  religious  ends.  It  is  a  wise  plan  to  set 
apart  a  definite  portion  of  one's  income  for  the  latter  pur- 
pose. It  may  be  a  tenth,  or  more,  or  less,  as  the  Lord 
has  prospered ;  but  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  we  are 
stewards,  and  that  all  we  have  is  to  be  consecrated  to 
the  Lord,  and  that  in  spending  any  money,  as  we  are 
called  to  do,  for  other  than  direct  religious  uses,  we  are 
also  spending  it  for  him. 

The  same  is  true  of  culture  and  the  use  made  of  it. 
Each  new  accession  of  knowledge,  each  enriching  experi- 
ence, each  so-called  gift,  natural  or  acquired,  whether  of 
music  or  oratory,  of  literary  or  business  ability,  of  fine 
looks  or  winsome  ways,  is  to  be  utilized,  not  to  promote 
personal  or  selfish  ends  alone,  but  as  well  for  the  benefit  of 
others.  These  gifts  were  bestowed  for  high  ends,  and 
are  to  be  consecrated  to  the  Lord's  service. 


9o 


POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 


Thus  neither  the  man  of  wealth,  position,  or  power,  nor 
the  person  of  culture  or  ability  in  any  direction,  nor  the 
young  woman  of  beautiful  appearance  or  charming  ways, 
nor  the  young  man  of  exceptional  talents,  has  any  right  to 
devote  such  gifts  to  purposes  of  self -gratification  alone, 
or  to  further  a  mere  worldly  ambition.  It  is  a  great 
responsibility  to  be  entrusted  with  such  gifts  or  powers, 
and  strict  account  of  the  use  made  of  them  will  be 
required.  Yet  one  may  well  feel  grateful  for  them,  since 
larger  Christian  usefulness  is  thereby  rendered  possible. 
Thus  in  the  Scriptural  conception  of  the  Christian  life 
and  service,  not  only  is  everything  we  do  to  be  done  as 
unto  the  Lord,  but  everything  we  have, — time,  talents, 
money,  is  to  be  consecrated  to  his  service,  and  to  be 
employed  for  his  glory. 

2.  This  Biblical  view  of  life  is  inspiring  and  enno- 
bling. Everything  pertaining  to  life  in  this  world  is  thus 
exalted;  every  part  of  it  is  made  sacred;  the  commonest 
duties  are  transfigured;  even  the  work  of  a  drudge  may 
be  divine.  Nothing  is  trivial  or  indifferent.  Prompted 
by  love  for  Christ,  all  toil  is  rendered  holy.  Thus 
Christian  service  is  not  the  privilege  or  the  pleasure  of 
a  few  rare  hours.  It  embraces  the  whole  range  of  life, 
and  includes  all  its  relationships — to  home,  to  friends, 
to  business,  to  society,  to  pleasure,  to  humanity.  Yes,  to 
humanity,  so  that  the  young  man,  who,  in  connection  with 
the  recent  war,  felt  constrained  to  enlist,  that  he  might  go 
to  the  relief  of  the  suffering,  the  outraged,  and  the  starv- 
ing reconcentrados,  if  he  carried  into  that  stern  duty  the 
spirit  of  the  Master,  was  rendering  acceptable  Christian 
service. 

Still  further,  what  an  encouragement,  and  a  rebuke  as 
well,  is  involved  in  this  view  of  the  Christian  life  and 
service,  for  all  who  are  chafing  in  the  midst  of  their 
providential  allotments  in  life,  who  are  lamenting  their 
narrow  sphere,  and  their  inability  to  do  much,  if  indeed 
anything,  as  it  appears  to  them,  for  the  cause  of  Christ! 


LIVING  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  91 

Cheer  up,  brother,  sister.  If  in  the  path  of  duty,  you  are 
rendering  Christian  service  all  the  time.  God  asks  you 
to  be  faithful  where  you  are,  and  to  meet  each  duty,  as 
it  comes  to  you,  whatever  it  may  be,  as  discharging  it 
unto  him.  Humble  as  the  work  may  be,  it  may  be 
Christianized  by  breathing  into  it  the  spirit  of  love  and 
consecration.  If  called  to  wait — and  there  are  times 
when  one  can  do  nothing  else — we  are  to  wait  as  unto 
the  Lord;  and  if  suffering  be  our  portion,  then  we  are  to 
suffer  with  patient  resignation  as  unto  him.  Sometimes 
we  can  do  most  for  Christ  in  this  way.  We  serve  Christ 
by  doing  each  moment  the  duty  of  that  moment,  and 
in  this  way  live  acceptably  before  him  every  day  and  every 
hour. 


VI 

POPULAR    MISCONCEPIONS    AS    TO    SANCTIFICATION 
OR   PERFECTION 

As  we  have  seen,  it  is  a  misconception  to  conceive  of 
the  nature  and  scope  of  the  Christian  life  as  consisting 
simply  in  a  state  of  heart  or  a  condition  of  mind  which 
accompanies  conversion.  It  is  equally  a  misconception  to 
overlook  the  responsibility  to  acquire  holiness  of  character 
after  conversion.  Nor  is  the  conception  less  erroneous 
which  would  make  sanctification  or  holiness  the  only  aim 
of  the  Christian  life.  The  acquisition  of  holiness  may 
be  sought  for  selfish  ends.  The  supreme  thought  may 
be  centered  upon  self-culture,  rare  spiritual  experience, 
holy  character,  and  the  whole  world  of  duty  to  others 
overlooked  or  made  secondary.  As  another  has  said: 
"While  character  has  great  preciousness,  heaven  is  not 
to  be  a  mutual  admiration  society,  where  the  redeemed 
will  exhibit  their  graces  of  character  to  each  other  as 
prize-fighters  might  show  their  thews  and  muscles." 

The  responsibility  of  building  up  God's  kingdom  in  the 
world  has  been  committed  to  his  believing  children.  To 
promote  this  end,  rather  than  their  own  personal  sancti- 
fication merely,  should  be  their  supreme  aim.  In  this, 
all  believers  are  to  be  coworkers  with  God.  The  im- 
portance of  seeking  to  grow  in  holiness  can  hardly  be 
exaggerated.  This  is  to  be  secured  in  service  for  God 
and  humanity,  rather  than  by  being  made  a  special  end  in 
itself.  "None  of  us  liveth  to  himself,"  not  even  in  the 
matter  of  spiritual  culture.  One  is  under  obligations 
to  minister  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  others.  It  is  only 
necessary  to  refer  to  the  twelfth  chapter  of  First  Corin- 
thians, and  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Romans,  to  show  how 


SANCTIFICATION  OR  PERFECTION 


93 


strong  a  hold  the  idea  of  service  had  upon  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  early  Church.  But  while  a  Christian  is 
not  to  be  occupied  solely  with  thoughts  of  his  personal 
attainment,  the  importance  of  spiritual  growth  merits 
special  attention. 

That  we  may  attain  to  sanctification,  or  to  perfection  in 
holiness  in  this  life,  is,  as  we  conceive  it,  a  misconception. 
The  difficulty  with  such  a  view  is,  that  while  perfection 
may  be  theoretically  possible,  both  Scripture  and  the  facts 
of  practical  life  do  not  warrant  it.  Properly  interpreted, 
Scripture  gives  no  countenance  whatever  to  such  a  view. 
If  some  Bible  characters  are  called  perfect,  the  word  is 
used  relatively,  not  absolutely.  It  indicates  their  piety 
rather  than  sinlessness.  The  Bible  records  many  sins  of 
so-called  perfect  men.  Absolute  perfection  pertains  to 
no  one  but  God.  James  affirms  that  "in  many  things  we 
all  stumble"  (Jas.  3:2),  while  Paul  declares  himself  not 
to  have  attained  or  to  be  already  perfect,  but  only  to  be 
pressing  toward  the  goal,  ''unto  the  prize  of  the  high 
calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus"  (Phil.  3:  12-14).  John 
says,  "If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves, 
and  the  truth  is  not  in  us"  (i  John  i :  8).  Hence  the 
claim  that  one  has  not  sinned  for  a  certain  number  of 
days,  or  weeks,  or  years,  is  preposterous.  The  holiest 
Christians  bewail  their  sins,  and  are  conscious  of  having 
fallen  far  below  the  perfect  standard. 

The  difficulty  really  lies  in  the  definition  of  sanctifica- 
tion or  perfection.  Probably  what  those  persons  mean 
who  claim  that  they  are  in  a  sanctified  state  is  that  they 
are  wholly  consecrated  to  God.  They  confuse  the  thought 
of  consecration  with  that  of  sanctification.  The  former 
ought  to  be  in  the  possession  of  every  child  of  God.  The 
doctrine  of  sanctification  or  of  perfection,  as  ordinarily 
held,  is  exceedingly  mischievous.  It  tends  to  introduce 
a  spirit  of  caste  into  the  religious  life.  It  concentrates 
one's  interest  upon  an  exalted  spiritual  experience,  a 
frame  of  mind,  or  a  state  of  feeling,  which  is  supposed  to 


94 


POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 


accompany  sanctification,  rather  than  upon  a  purpose  of 
constant  obedience  to  God  and  of  unwearied  service  in 
advancing  his  kingdom.  The  former  often  leads  to  an 
unwholesome,  if  not  to  a  morbid  spirit  of  introspection; 
the  latter  is  characteristic  of  a  true  Christian  life.  The 
doctrine  of  perfectionism  tends  also  to  bring  the  Christian 
religion  into  disrepute,  since  to  announce  oneself  as 
having  reached  a  state  of  sanctification  is  but  to  invite  the 
world  to  a  more  minute  scrutiny  of  one's  life  and  motives 
than  human  nature,  even  at  its  best,  is  able  to  endure. 

To  be  actually  perfect  is  to  be  as  Christ  was.  Of 
whom  in  this  life  can  this  be  said?  One  may  be  entirely 
consecrated — and  much  of  so-called  perfection  never  rises 
higher  than  this — may  ever  be  pressing  toward  the 
mark,  but  it  is  presumption  to  think  of  having  attained. 
There  is  no  indication  that  the  apostles  ever  thought  of 
such  a  thing.  If  the  standard  of  perfection  be  lowered, 
if  sin  be  made  a  less  serious  thing  than  it  is,  perfection 
may  then  be  attainable,  not  otherwise.  In  reality,  sancti- 
fication is  the  work  of  a  lifetime.  It  begins  with  the 
beginning  of  spiritual  life  in  the  soul,  and  ends,  if  it  ever 
ends,  in  heaven.  There  is  certainly  no  place  this  side  of 
that  blessed  abode  where  one  can  say  that  sanctification  is 
complete.  The  holier  one  becomes,  the  freer  is  he  from 
spiritual  conceit,  the  less  inclined  to  boast  of  his  spiritual 
accomplishments. 

Another  misconception,  and  one  which  is  closely  con- 
nected with  that  which  we  have  just  considered,  is  related 
to  a  so-called  second  conversion,  after  which  one's  feet 
are  supposed  to  be  planted  on  a  rock  from  which  they  can 
never  slip.  The  struggle  is  now  over,  the  work  is  finally 
completed,  and  all  that  remains  is  to  walk  on  the  highway 
of  perfect  holiness  with  the  celestial  city  ever  in  view. 

Those  who  anticipate  any  such  deliverance,  once  for  all, 
from  further  struggle  with  temptation  and  sin,  are  quite 
certain  to  be  disappointed.  There  is  no  Scriptural  war- 
rant for  asserting  that  through  any  single  act  of  faith,  or 


SANCTIFICATION  OR  PERFECTION 


95 


as  the  result  of  any  special  spiritual  experience,  a  supply 
of  grace  may  be  obtained  which  will  keep  one  from 
further  sin.  Christian  people  are  exhorted  evermore  to 
be  upon  the  watch  against  temptation,  and  are  encouraged 
by  the  assurance  that  as  their  day  their  strength  will  be. 
The  power  of  sin  may  never  be  entirely  broken,  but,  when 
the  time  of  testing  comes,  the  grace  of  God  will  be  suffi- 
cient for  all  who  will  avail  themselves  of  it.  Paul  was 
once  caught  up  into  the  third  heaven,  but  this  was  by  no 
means  the  end  of  his  conflicts.  There  were  fightings 
without  and  fears  within  still.  So  it  has  always  been  in 
Christian  experience,  and  so  it  is  always  likely  to  be. 

Nor  is  there  any  Scriptural  ground  for  the  idea  of  a 
definite  experience  like  a  second  new  birth  spiritually,  any 
more  than  there  is  for  a  second  physical  birth.  With  the 
growing  Christian  there  may  be,  often  are,  successive  ex- 
periences— tidal  waves  of  inflowing  grace,  which  mark 
advancements  in  spiritual  progress.  These  experiences 
may  be  due  to  new  light  gained,  or  to  a  spiritual  quicken- 
ing, or  to  victories  achieved  over  besetting  temptations, 
but  there  is  no  propriety  in  calling  any  of  them,  however 
marked,  a  new  conversion.  They  by  no  means  imply 
that  the  work  of  sanctification  is  complete,  or  that  one 
will  never  falter  or  fall  again.  Each  of  these  experiences 
is  a  step  forward  and  upward  in  the  heavenly  way.  They 
may  be  more  pronounced  or  more  frequent  in  the  case  of 
some  persons  than  of  others.  But  while  it  is  the  privilege 
of  all  Christians  to  seek  renewed  and  enlarged  supplies 
of  grace,  richer  manifestations  of  God's  love  and  presence, 
and  fresh  baptisms  of  the  Spirit,  the  summits  of  Christian 
experience  are  not  reached  at  a  bound,  nor  can  one  remain 
constantly  upon  a  mount  of  transfiguration.  Progress 
is  made  only  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing.  Nor 
should  it  be  forgotten  that  while  conversion  is  instan- 
taneous— though  one  may  not  be  able  to  point  to  the 
exact  moment  of  it — sanctification  is  the  work  of  a 
lifetime. 


96  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

Still  another  misconception  is  that  the  circumstances 
in  which  one  is  placed  may  be  unfavorable  to  this  higher 
growth,  even  if  they  do  not  render  it  impossible.  Many 
imagine  that  they  could  live  far  more  satisfactorily  as 
Christians,  and  grow  in  grace  more  rapidly,  were  their 
circumstances  different;  were  they  in  some  other  busi- 
ness; were  they  freed  from  household  burdens  and  from 
social  obligations,  or  could  they  start  entirely  anew 
somewhere  else. 

It  is  possible  that  Christian  living  would  be  easier  and 
more  successful  were  conditions  changed,  but  it  is  by  no 
means  certain.  New  circumstances  would  bring  new 
difficulties,  new  temptations,  new  trials.  The  fact  re- 
mains that  we  are  where  we  are  in  the  providence  of  God. 
If  we  are  to  be  Christians  and  make  progress  in  the 
Christian  life,  we  must  be  contented  to  live  and  grow  and 
develop  where  God  puts  us.  Here  we  must  gain  our 
victories  and  suffer  our  defeats.  The  fact  that  others 
may  be  in  more  agreeable  circumstances  makes  no  differ- 
ence, in  so  far  as  we  and  our  obligations  are  concerned. 
Here  are  our  circumstances,  and  here  our  responsibility  to 
live  the  Christian  life  and  to  grow  in  it  must  be  met. 

Yet  we  may  take  courage  from  the  fact  that  Providence 
has  not  placed  us  where  we  are  without  a  wise  purpose. 
It  may  be  that  our  needs  in  the  way  of  discipline  can  be 
better  met  in  the  place  we  occupy,  and  by  means  of  such 
experiences  as  are  incident  to  our  lot,  than  in  any  other 
circumstances.  At  any  rate,  we  are  required  to  grow 
where  we  are.  Here  we  are  to  make  as  much  progress 
as  possible.  In  this  the  grace  of  God  will  assist.  The 
truth  is,  many  of  our  difficulties  are  of  our  own  making. 
Their  source  is  within  rather  than  in  external  conditions. 
We  cannot  escape  from  ourselves  merely  by  changing 
our  circumstances  or  our  location. 

These  and  similar  misconceptions  will  more  fully  dis- 
appear as  we  consider  next,  more  particularly,  the  positive 
teaching  of  Scripture  upon  the  subject  of  sanctification 
and  growth. 


SANCTIFICATION  OR  PERFECTION  97 

If  anything  is  plain  in  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  it  is 
the  recognition  of  the  principle  of  growth,  as  applied  to 
the  Christian  life  and  character.  Growth  is  everywhere 
manifest  in  the  natural  world.  Seeds  are  planted,  spring 
up,  grow — "first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the  full 
corn  in  the  ear."  Animals  grow,  men  grow  from  infancy 
to  maturity.  By  proper  training  the  physical  powers 
are  made  to  develop  in  strength,  and  the  physical  nature 
to  improve  in  the  quality  of  its  fiber.  In  the  same  way 
the  intellectual  nature  unfolds  and  develops.  It  is  to 
this  end  that  schools  are  established. 

Similarly,  the  highest  part  of  our  being,  the  moral  and 
spiritual,  may  also  be  made  to  develop  in  strength,  in 
beauty  and  in  Christlikeness,  and  this  is  the  part  of  our 
nature  with  which  Scripture  has  mainly  to  do.  It  is  the 
spiritual  part  of  man  which  the  gospel  primarily  seeks  to 
transform.  When  the  spiritual  part  of  our  being  is  re- 
newed, the  whole  man  is  benefited.  To  the  spiritual 
nature  Christ  addressed  the  mightiest  motives.  This  he 
would  beautify  through  the  unfolding  of  the  Christian 
graces.  And  when  the.  Christian  is  exhorted  to  advance 
and  to  grow,  it  is  taken  for  granted  that  the  progress  in- 
tended is  along  moral  and  spiritual  lines.  Thus  Christ's 
higher  nature  unfolded  as  he  grew  up  at  Nazareth. 
Not  only  did  he  grow  in  physical  stature,  but  through  the 
development  of  his  spiritual  nature.  He  grew  in  favor 
with  God  and  men.  Later  he  exhorted  his  disciples  to 
be  perfect,  as  the  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect,  implying 
growth  or  progress  toward  this  high  standard.  Peter 
exhorts  to  "grow  in  the  grace" — or  in  an  appropriation  of 
grace,  by  which  to  develop  in  this  higher  sense — "and 
knowledge  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ" — 
riot  in  intellectual  knowledge  alone,  but  in  practical  and 
experimental  knowledge  as  well.  Nothing  would  be  more 
conducive  to  spiritual  growth  than  just  such  spiritual 
knowledge  as  this.  Paul  was  possessed  by  a  consum- 
ing passion  to  advance  in  this  direction.  He  was  ever 

VII 


98  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

trying  to  rise  above  his  old  natural  self,  ever  seeking  to  be 
made  over  inwardly  by  the  grace  of  God,  ever  pressing 
toward  the  mark  of  a  Christlike  character  and  spirit.  In 
Hebrews,  the  exhortation  is  not  to  linger  at  the  beginning, 
or  at  the  rudiments  of  the  divine  life  and  knowledge, — 
the  a,  b,  c's  of  experience, — but  to  press  on  toward  per- 
fection, Christ  being  the  Great  Exemplar,  his  character 
the  standard  to  be  reached  ( Heb.  6 :  i ) .  Thus  the 
Christian  is  expected  to  go  forward  in  this  heavenly  way, 
until  he  attains  in  some  degree  to  "the  measure  of  the 
stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ." 

The  Biblical  conception  of  the  Christian  life  is  thus 
seen  to  be  one  of  growth.  Beginning  with  conversion, 
or  entrance  upon  the  new  life,  it  is  intended  that  growth 
should  continue  as  long  as  this  earthly  life  continues. 

What  is  the  measure  of  this  growth?  What  is  in- 
volved in  it,  and  how  is  it  to  be  promoted  ? 

Growth  in  character  or  in  holiness,  or,  as  theologians 
term  it,  sanctification,  has  for  its  end  a  restoration  of  the 
image  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ  in  those  who  believe.  This 
is  far  from  being  their  condition  at  the  beginning  of  the 
new  life.  In  yielding  the  will  to  God,  the  chief  citadel 
has  been  surrendered,  but  the  country  is  not  yet  subdued. 
There  remains  much  land  to  be  possessed.  There  has 
been  a  right-about-face  from  a  wrong  course  to  a  right 
one,  but  the  journey  in  the  new  direction  is  yet  to  be 
accomplished.  The  new  choice  to  live  for  God,  making 
the  interests  of  his  kingdom  one's  chief  end  and  aim, 
needs  to  be  confirmed  and  strengthened.  The  old,  corrupt 
nature,  with  its  perverted  sensibilities  and  its  mighty 
propensities  to  evil,  needs  to  be  transformed.  Self  is  to 
be  overcome,  temper  is  to  be  trained,  pride  is  to  be 
brought  down,  impatience  is  to  be  curbed,  evil  habits 
are  to  be  uprooted,  right  habits  are  to  be  formed.  The 
will  needs  to  be  entirely  and  permanently  subdued,  the 
motives  to  be  purged  and  purified,  the  Christian  graces 
to  be  developed,  every  thought  to  be  brought  into  captivity 
to  Christ. 


SANCTIFICATION  OR  PERFECTION 


99 


Thus  we  see  how  vast  a  work  must  be  done  within 
before  the  sanctifying  process  can  be  completed.  There 
is  room  for  expansion,  growth,  enlargement,  on  every 
side  of  our  nature.  There  is  not  a  faculty  of  our  being 
which  is  not  capable  of  immeasurable  development.  No 
one  has  advanced  so  far  as  to  be  beyond  the  need  of 
this,  and  God  never  makes  a  man  entirely  holy  at  once 
by  a  miracle  of  grace.  People  who  talk  about  being 
wholly  sanctified  can  really  have  but  little  conception 
concerning  the  nature  of  sanctification. 

Furthermore,  this  progressive  transformation  or 
growth  involves  conflict.  There  are  obstacles  within 
to  be  overcome,  there  are  temptations  without  to  be 
resisted.  We  are  naturally  selfish,  and  the  new  life, 
with  its  unselfish  spirit,  antagonizes  the  old  life  just  here. 
It  is  at  this  point  that  the  warfare,  of  which  all  are  con- 
scious, is  mainly  waged.  It  is  a  struggle  between  self- 
will,  self-gratification,  on  the  one  hand,  and  obedience 
to  God's  will,  to  right  and  to  duty,  on  the  other.  The 
central  principle  of  the  new  life  is  that  of  loving  obedience 
to  God.  But  the  whole  tendency  of  the  nature  is  against 
this,  and  until  the  old,  selfish  man  within  is  subdued,  there 
will  be  constant  resistance  and  constant  antagonism. 
Paul,  who  knew  by  experience  what  it  was  to  wage  this 
warfare,  recognized  and  referred  to  this.  It  was  all  to 
be  summed  up  in  battling  with  self,  with  the  flesh,  with 
the  old  man.  The  whirlpool  within,  seeking  to  draw 
everything  into  itself  for  self-gratification,  was  to  be 
transformed  into  a  fountain  of  life,  giving  out  for  the 
refreshment  of  others.  Nor  is  there  any  place  in  this 
life  where  one  can  lay  his  armor  down  in  the  assurance 
that  the  struggle  is  over,  or  that  his  last  foe  is  conquered. 
Even  after  all  that  is  possible  has  been  done,  one  will  still 
be  conscious  that  he  falls  far  below  the  model  or  standard 
which  is  given  us  in  Christ. 

All  this  work  of  overcoming  worldly  tendencies,  and 
of  enlargement  and  building  up  in  the  primitive  graces 


I0o  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

of  Christian  character,  is  comprehended  in  the  process 
of  sanctification,  or  growth  in  Christlikeness  of  character 
and  temper.  From  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  process 
must  be  gradual.  Conversion  is  the  beginning,  the  initial 
point  of  the  new  life.  Sanctification  is  the  process  carried 
forward.  At  conversion  one  stands  at  the  entrance  of  a 
long  way  which  remains  to  be  traversed.  He  is  at 
the  foot  of  a  mountain  whose  summit  he  is  to  seek  to 
gain.  The  conquered  country  of  the  believer's  heart  is 
to  be  restored  to  harmony  and  order,  but  this,  like  our 
government's  work  in  restoring  order  and  the  blessings 
of  true  liberty  in  Cuba  and  in  the  Philippines,  after  years 
of  confusion  and  anarchy,  must  necessarily  require  time. 

Yet  this  lifelong  process  of  transformation  or  growth, 
this  progressive  sanctification,  is  not  carried  forward  by 
man's  unaided  strength.  Mere  force  of  will  would  be 
entirely  inadequate.  The  power  to  do  this  is  supplied 
by  God  himself,  and  this  power  or  grace  is  to  be  appro- 
priated by  means  of  faith.  God  works  within,  "both  to 
will  and  to  work,  for  his  good  pleasure,"  but  man  works 
out  his  own  salvation.  Thus,  the  two-fold  agency  of  God 
and  man  is  involved.  God  seeks  by  his  grace  to  trans- 
form; the  believer  cooperates.  Before  conversion,  the 
Spirit  is  represented  as  outside  the  heart,  knocking  for  ad- 
mission. In  sanctification,  the  Spirit  is  within,  seeking  to 
cleanse  and  renew.  This  heavenly  grace  is  supplied  as 
needed,  as  manna  was  supplied  to  the  children  of  Israel 
in  the  wilderness.  The  supply  is  renewed  each  day,  and 
is  to  be  appropriated  and  applied  each  day. 

But  while  this  sanctifying  process  proceeds  by  faith, 
constantly  appropriating  and  applying  the  grace  of  God, 
it  is  brought  about  or  promoted  largely  in  connection  with 
the  use  of  means.  Hence,  we  speak  of  "means  of  grace." 
They  are  helps  to  spiritual  progress.  There  are,  first, 
the  usual  agencies,  such  as  prayer,  reading  and  studying 
God's  Word,  worship,  a  knowledge  of  the  truth,  Christian 
fellowship,  obedience,  active  Christian  service,  and  all 


SANCTIFICATION  OR  PERFECTION 


the  quickening  and  inspiration  which  come  from  regularly 
engaging  in  the  worship  of  the  house  of  God. 

There  are,  in  addition,  indirect  or  negative  helps. 
There  is  the  discipline  of  Providence  in  connection  with 
the  experience  of  suffering  and  trial,  and  the  various 
ordeals  through  which  we  are  called  to  pass.  Received 
aright,  these  trials  do  not  fail  to  work  out  the  peaceable 
fruits  of  righteousness  in  character  and  life.  Still 
further,  many  things  which  are  usually  overlooked,  or 
regarded  as  hindrances,  may  be  utilized  in  the  disci- 
plinary process,  if  one  will.  All  the  difficult  and  trying 
experiences  of  daily  life  may  be  turned  into  stepping- 
stones  to  something  higher  and  better.  This  is  true  of 
the  dull,  prosaic  routine  of  life,  the  drudgery,  so 
called.  Endured  patiently,  as  unto  the  Lord,  it  may  be 
of  great  value.  Sometimes  wre  are  compelled  to  associate 
with  disagreeable  people.  Even  these  may  be  made  a 
means  of  grace  to  us.  While  the  influence  of  some  of  the 
people  with  whom  we  associate  may  be  spiritually  uplift- 
ing, the  influence  of  others,  who  are  uncongenial,  dis- 
agreeable, and  who  are  difficult  to  get  along  with,  may 
become  a  means  of  grace  to  us.  Socrates  said  that  he 
married  his  wife,  Xantippe,  a  woman  of  uncertain  temper, 
for  the  sake  of  the  discipline  he  might  gather  from  the 
relationship.  Probably  not  all  are  so  eager  for  this 
higher  growth  as  to  enter  deliberately  upon  a  lifelong 
discipline  of  this  character.  Yet,  if  one's  married  life  is 
unfortunate,  Socrates  is  a  good  example  to  follow.  This 
experience  may  prove  to  be  a  means  of  gaining  a  full 
and  complete  conquest  of  one's  own  spirit.  It  may 
make  him  a  saint.  It  would  at  least  seem  to  be  a  good 
school  in  which  to  cultivate  the  grace  of  patience. 

One  may  be  pressed  by  temptations  threatening  his 
overthrow,  yet  he  is  made  stronger  by  every  victory 
gained  in  resisting  them.  Disappointments  and  failures 
cause  embarrassment  and  distress  often,  but  these  also 
may  be  utilized  in  the  training  of  temper.  The  many 


I02  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

and  varied  burdens  of  life  may  serve  to  call  into  exercise 
all  the  graces  which  we  possess,  but  the  very  exercise  of 
these  graces  will  tend  to  develop  and  strengthen  them, 
just  as  exercise  day  by  day  in  a  gymnasium  strengthens 
and  develops  the  physical  powers.  The  truth  is,  if  one 
is  intent  upon  spiritual  advancement,  he  may  discover 
means  of  promoting  it  on  every  hand,  often  in  the  most 
unexpected  quarters.  Sources  of  spiritual  nourishment 
abound  everywhere,  if  we  but  choose  to  recognize  and  to 
utilize  them. 

This  sanctifying  process  is  completed  only  when  the 
sinner  is  restored  to  the  image  of  God  as  manifested  in 
Christ.  As  this  is  impossible,  in  view  of  man's  corrupt 
nature,  under  present  circumstances,  it  follows  that  com- 
plete sanctification  is  not  secured  in  this  life.  One  may 
continually  advance  toward  it,  but  Christ  is  the  only 
being  who  realized  it  while  on  earth.  One  may  be 
entirely  consecrated,  even  if  imperfectly  sanctified. 

We  see,  therefore,  what  the  Scripture  doctrine  of 
sanctification  is  and  involves.  Sanctification  is  not  some- 
thing which  is  attained  at  a  bound.  It  is  a  lifelong 
process  under  the  direction  of  the  indwelling  Spirit,  with 
whom  we  are  to  cooperate.  It  is  not  to  be  sought  as 
the  whole  end  and  aim  of  life,  but  rather  in  connection 
with  a  life  of  consecration  and  service.  It  is  a  mistake 
to  suppose  that  we  cannot  live  the  Christian  life  and 
grow  in  it  in  the  circumstances  in  life  in  which  Provi- 
dence has  placed  us.  It  is  possible  to  realize  spiritual 
discipline  from  the  most  adverse  conditions,  to  gather 
spiritual  nourishment  from  the  most  trying  experiences, 
just  as  the  bee  extracts  honey  from  every  opening  flower. 
Just  as  the  mariner  hoists  the  sail  to  catch  the  breeze  from 
every  quarter  to  waft  him  on  his  voyage,  the  Christian 
may  make  use  of  everything  which  comes  into  his  experi- 
ence to  promote  his  spiritual  progress. 

The  one  thing  needed  to  kindle  the  desire,  to  awaken 
the  aspiration,  and  constantly  to  promote  the  work  of 


SANCTIFICATION  OR  PERFECTION 


103 


sanctification  within  the  heart,  is  the  presence  in  ever- 
increasing  measure  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  If  we  follow  his 
suggestions,  we  shall  advance  in  the  Christian  life,  grow 
in  grace,  approach  nearer  and  nearer  the  likeness  of 
Christ,  in  temper,  in  character,  until  at  length,  when  we 
see  him  as  he  is,  not  before,  we  shall  be  like  him. 


VII 

POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS    AS    TO    THE    VALUE   OF 

PERSONAL   EXPERIENCE  IN  TESTING  THE 

REALITY    OF   DIVINE   GRACE 

Some  people  seem  to  regard  the  Christian  religion  as  a 
mere  sentiment,  and  the  grace  of  God  as  a  delusion. 
They  seem  to  have  no  conception  of  the  gospel  as  a 
reality,  or  that  it  is  an  actually  transforming  spiritual 
force  in  human  life,  or  that  there  are  verities  of  spiritual 
experience  which  are  as  capable  of  proof  as  are  the  so- 
called  facts  of  the  material  world.  Yet  these  facts  were 
brought  to  light  by  Paul  nearly  two  thousand  years  ago, 
and  testimonies  as  to  their  genuineness  have  been  given 
in  every  generation  since. 

Others  lay  stress  upon  the  intellectual  side  of  the 
gospel,  upon  mere  belief  in  or  intellectual  acceptance  of 
certain  formulated  truth.  But  this  alone  does  not  take 
hold  of  the  heart  and  conscience,  and  has  little  effect  upon 
life  and  character.  The  devils,  even,  believe  and 
shudder. 

To  not  a  few  the  gospel  seems  to  be  something  whose 
chief  design  is  to  prepare  men  for  the  hereafter.  Little 
stress  is  laid  upon  its  relations  to  the  present  life.  In 
reality,  the  stress  is  reversed.  The  function  of  the 
gospel,  first  of  all,  is  to  save  men  from  the  power  of 
sin,  to  transform  character,  and  to  bring  comfort  and 
cheer  into  the  life  that  now  is.  When  this  result  is 
effected,  there  need  be  no  apprehension  for  the  future. 
The  gospel  was  intended  to  prepare  men  to  live,  not  to 
die;  or,  rather,  to  prepare  them  to  die  by  preparing  them 
to  live. 

What  is  the  testimony  of  experience  on  these  points  ? — 

104 


VALUE   OF  PERSONAL  EXPERIENCE 


105 


for  such  questions  as  these  are  to  be  settled,  not  by  argu- 
ment or  speculation,  but  by  practical  experience.  What 
has  the  gospel  actually  done  for  those  who  have  received 
it?  What  results  has  it  accomplished?  Has  it  been 
a  moral  force,  an  uplifting  agency,  a  means  of  comfort 
and  consolation  to  those  who  open  their  lives  to  its  power  ? 
What,  for  example,  were  some  of  the  facts  which  Paul 
discovered  through  his  experience  concerning  the  nature 
and  power  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  ? 

i.  First  of  all,  as  to  the  means  by  which  we  overcome 
sin,  Paul  became  convinced  by  his  experience  that 
the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  for  every  one  that  believeth ;  that  it  is  able  so  to 
renew  or  to  make  men  over  at  the  very  foundations  of 
character,  motive,  spirit,  as  literally  to  render  them  new 
creatures;  that  its  acceptance  lifts  a  heavy  load  of  con- 
demnation from  their  souls,  and  by  its  exhaustless 
spiritual  resources  secures  a  progressive  victory  over  the 
power  of  sin  during  the  earthly  life.  Prior  to  the 
apostle's  time  the  problem  had  been  to  find  some  effective 
antidote  for  human  sin.  No  philosophy  had  been  able 
to  solve  it.  Various  remedies  had  been  devised,  but 
every  trial  of  them  had  resulted  in  failure.  Paul  dis- 
covered the  saving  power  of  the  gospel  through  his  own 
experience  of  it,  and  the  conviction  that  here 
was  the  one  God-given  remedy  for  human  sin  so  grew 
upon  him  that  it  became  the  consuming  passion  of  his 
life  to  make  this  momentous  discovery  known  throughout 
the  world.  This  conviction,  indeed,  and  this  desire, 
became  the  mighty  impelling  force  of  his  marvelous 
career.  With  him  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  was  literally 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation.  What  nothing  else  had 
ever  done  it  could  do.  It  could  effect  transformation  at 
the  very  core  of  one's  being,  impart  a  new  motive,  a  new 
spirit,  an  entirely  new  aim  in  life.  It  could  give  victory 
over  evil  habits,  however  deeply  rooted;  its  resources  of 
help  and  strength  were  exhaustless,  and  were  available  to 


I06  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

all   who,   by   faith,   were  willing    to   appropriate  them. 

To-day  these  truths  are  very  familiar.  Men  have 
heard  them  from  their  earliest  years.  But  from  the 
very  fact  of  this  familiarity  with  them,  the  ears  of  many 
seem  to  have  become  dulled  to  their  tremendous  signi- 
ficance. Recognition  of  them  has  become  feeble,  and 
their  personal  application  rare.  Thus  the  greatest  force 
in  all  the  world  for  rescuing  enslaved  men,  for  breaking 
the  fetters  of  appetite  and  passion  and  habits  of  sin,  and 
gradually  bringing  men  into  the  likeness  of  Christ — 
this  spiritual  force — if  not  largely  ignored,  is  certainly  not 
appreciated,  even  by  Christian  people,  as  it  ought  to  be. 
Even  to-day,  how  many  devices  of  purely  human  origin 
are  constantly  proposed  as  a  remedy  for  sin,  or  for  parti- 
cular sins : — pledges,  social  agencies,  education,  legis- 
lation, reformatory  measures,  better  environment,  and  a 
score  of  other  things,  which,  while  they  may  be  useful 
in  their  place,  are  but  weak  and  superficial  substitutes  for 
the  one  divine  and  effective  remedy  for  the  great  disease 
of  human  sin.  Not  one  of  them  goes  to  the  root  of  the 
difficulty,  yet  the  only  infallible  specific  which  is  able  to 
effect  a  radical  and  permanent  cure  seems  hardly  to  be 
thought  of. 

The  grace  of  God  is  just  as  powerful  in  itself  and  in 
its  quiet  workings  to-day  as  ever  it  was;  just  as  effica- 
cious now  for  revolutionizing  the  aims  and  lives  and  dis- 
positions of  men  as  it  was  in  the  case  of  Paul  or  of  any 
of  the  marked  instances  of  transformation  and  renewal 
which  the  ages  since  have  developed.  Men  may  have 
lost  sight  of  this  fact,  but  the  gospel  itself  has  never  lost 
its  power. 

It  was  through  the  agency  of  the  gospel  that  Augustine, 
who  in  his  early  life  was  a  notorious  libertine,  was 
entirely  revolutionized  in  his  character,  and  afterward 
became  the  brightest  luminary  of  the  Church  in  the 
fourth  and  fifth  centuries.  By  the  same  means  John 
Btinyan,  who  grew  up  in  the  indulgence  of  the  grossest 


VALUE   OF  PERSONAL  EXPERIENCE 


107 


vices,  lying,  stealing,  profanity,  drunkenness,  was  con- 
verted. Then  these  old  things  passed  entirely  away,  and 
gave  place  to  the  new  things  in  Jesus  Christ.  He  after- 
wards wrote  "Pilgrim's  Progress,"  by  which  his  name 
was  immortalized.  Gough,  the  prince  of  temperance 
lecturers  on  two  continents,  was  a  confirmed  inebriate 
until  he  was  lifted  out  of  the  depths  of  sin  and  kept  by  the 
grace  of  God.  It  is  noticeable  that  all  these  men  them- 
selves attribute  the  mighty  revolutionizing  results  which 
were  wrought  in  their  lives  to  the  grace  of  God  as  made 
known  in  the  gospel  of  his  son,  Jesus  Christ. 

Counterparts  of  these  instances  are  by  no  means  lack- 
ing in  more  recent  times.  Illustrative  examples,  just  as 
striking,  are  brought  to  light  every  day.  Those  who 
have  visited  the  old  Jerry  McAuley  and  kindred  mis- 
sions in  New  York  City,  or  the  Pacific  Garden  Mission  in 
Chicago,  will  not  soon  forget  the  simple  testimonies  to 
the  power  of  the  gospel  to  save,  to  which  they  there 
listened.  Men  who  had  been  low,  degraded,  besotted 
slaves  to  appetite  or  passion,  some  for  years,  acknowl- 
edged that  but  for  the  saving  power  of  the  grace  of  God 
they  would  have  been  lost  beyond  redemption.  We  hear 
one  say  that  he  was  a  drunkard  for  twenty-seven 
years,  had  lost  position  after  position,  had  reached  a 
point  where  it  was  anything  to  get  rum.  It  was  only  as 
the  gospel  reached  him  that  he  was  rescued  from  his 
dreadful  thraldom.  Nothing  else  had  any  permanent 
effect  upon  him  to  this  end. 

A  gray-haired  man  reports  that  for  the  best  part  of 
his  life  he  has  been  a  servant  of  Satan.  Now  he  is  a 
servant  of  Christ.  "I  was,"  he  says,  "most  unlovable, 
mean,  low,  had  lost  all  self-respect,  was  capable  of  any- 
thing, but  Christ  came  and  lifted  me  up.  Now  I  am 
his  servant.  I  owe  everything  to  him."  Another,  "I 
was  in  darkness,  despair,  no  money,  no  hopes,  drifting 
down  to  a  drunkard's  grave  and  a  drunkard's  hell — a 
mere  walking  appetite,  caring  only  for  the  next  drink. 


I08  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

Now  I  am  free,  made  so  by  the  gospel  power.  I  keep, 
my  eye  fixed  upon  Christ  and  I  am  secure."  In  many 
of  these  cases,  what  temperance-societies,  or  prohibition 
laws,  or  moral  suasion,  or  education,  or  will-power,  or 
social  influences,  or  all  combined,  had  failed  to  do,  the 
gospel  of  Christ  accomplished.  These  different  agencies 
are  not  to  be  disparaged;  there  is  need  of  them;  but  the 
gospel  alone  is  able  to  save.  Only  in  Christ  is  there 
perfect  and  abiding  security. 

Some  at  these  meetings  bore  testimony  to  their  release 
from  the  opium-habit,  which  had  long  held  them  as  help- 
less bondmen;  from  impurity,  by  which  they  had  been 
dragged  down  to  the  depths;  from  thieving  propensities, 
inherited  perhaps,  which  had  grown  upon  them  with  the 
years,  and  which  had  frequently  sent  them  to  prison; 
from  profanity  and  foulness  of  tongue,  which  had  become 
a  second  nature;  and  so  on  through  the  whole  catalogue 
of  enthralling  habits  of  evil.  Occasionally  one  may  have 
fallen  back,  from  letting  go  his  hold  upon  Christ,  but 
multitudes  had  been  saved  from  these  evils,  and  their 
altered  lives  ever  after  bore  testimony  to  the  reality  of  the 
mighty  change  which  had  been  wrought  in  them  by  the 
grace  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ. 

These  are  but  samples  of  testimonies  of  a  similar 
character  which  are  given  every  day  in  these  gospel  mis- 
sions, and  of  the  same  clear,  positive  sort.  They  are 
profoundly  impressive,  and  as  one  reflects  upon  the  feeble 
faith  of  many  professing  Christians,  their  reluctance  to 
bring  this  sure  remedy  to  the  attention  of  sinful  men, 
and  to  press  it  upon  them  with  all  earnestness,  their 
hesitancy  fully  to  utilize  it  for  the  correction  and  over- 
throw of  evil  habits  and  proclivities  in  their  own  lives, 
one  is  led  to  ask,  Are  we  only  playing  with  the  gospel? 
Do  we  really  believe  in  it  as  a  saving  power  from  sin? 
Does  it  mean  anything  to  us  beyond  being  a  supposed 
passport  to  glory  ?  Is  it  recognized  as  of  any  real  value 
for  present  needs,  present  victories,  present  cleansing,  and 


VALUE  OF  PERSONAL  EXPERIENCE 


109 


present  quickening  in  righteousness  and  truth?  Is  it, 
or  is  it  not,  the  tremendous  reality  which  it  is  represented 
to  be  in  the  Word  of  God,  which  it  was  to  Paul,  and 
which  he  risked  everything  to  proclaim  to  lost  and  dying 
men? 

The  truth  is,  one  of  the  urgent  needs  of  the  times  is 
that  this  fact  which  was  brought  out  in  the  apostle's 
experience,  and  which  seemed  such  a  marvelous  discovery 
to  him — that  the  gospel  is  actually  the  power  of  God  for 
human  salvation — be  emphasized  and  applied  afresh. 
Then  we  may  hope  for  more  adequate  results  than  are 
at  present  realized.  For  while  many  believe  all  this 
theoretically,  the  number  of  those  who  believe  it  with 
deep  and  mighty  conviction  seems  to  be  relatively  very 
small. 

2.  Another  fact  or  truth  of  the.  spiritual  realm  which 
was  wrought  out  and  demonstrated  for  all  time  in  the 
experience  of  the  apostle,  was  the  sustaining  power  of  the 
grace  of  God  in  every  form  of  trial  which  human  nature  is 
called  to  endure.  No  matter  how  trying  the  ordeal  was  in 
his  case,  whether  bitter  disappointment  in  cherished  plans 
and  hopes,  or  terrible  physical  pain  from  stripes  and 
stonings  and  attacks  from  infuriated  mobs,  or  from 
intense  anxieties  and  heavy  burdens  growing  out  of  his 
care  of  all  the  churches,  or  from  persecutions  inspired 
by  a  most  malignant  hate,  he  bears  his  testimony  that 
through  all  he  was  sustained  by  the  grace  of  God  and  by 
an  ever-present  sense  of  his  nearness  and  love.  He  was 
cheered  and  comforted  and  enabled  to  rise  above  and 
to  gain  the  victory  over  all  his  untoward  surroundings. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  from  the  very  moment  he  sur- 
rendered his  earthly  prospects  and  entered  upon  the 
service  of  Christ,  he  was  beset  with  difficulty  and  hard- 
ship and  danger.  Here  are  his  own  words:  "In  labors 
more  abundantly,  in  prisons  more  abundantly,  in  stripes 
above  measure,  in  deaths  oft.  Of  the  Jews  five  times 
received  I  forty  stripes  save  one.  Thrice  was  I  beaten 


IIO  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

with  rods,  once  was  I  stoned,  thrice  I  suffered  shipwreck, 
a  night  and  a  day  have  I  been  in  the  deep;  in  journey  ings 
often,  in  perils  of  rivers,  in  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils 
from  my  countrymen,  in  perils  from  the  Gentiles,  in  perils 
in  the  city,  in  perils  in  the  wilderness,  in  perils  in  the  sea, 
in  perils  among  false  brethren;  in  labour  and  travail,  in 
watchings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings  often, 
in  cold  and  nakedness.  Beside  those  things  that  are 
without,  there  is  that  which  presseth  upon  me  daily, 
anxiety  for  all  the  churches"  (2  Cor.  n  :  23-28). 

Yet,  in  spite  of  all  these  experiences,  which  would 
ordinarily  blanch  man's  cheek  and  fill  his  soul  with  fear, 
he  was  able  by  the  grace  of  God  to  say,  "I  have  learned 
.  .  .  to  be  content;"  "I  can  do  all  things  in  him  that 
strengthened!  me;"  "When  I  am  weak,  then  am  I 
strong;"  "And  he  hath  said  unto  me, My  grace  is  sufficient 
for  thee;"  "Our  light  affliction,  which  is  for  the 
moment."  Thus  was  he  strengthened  and  comforted  by 
the  grace  of  God,  as  manifest  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ.  This  is  most  remarkable  testimony.  He 
had  made  a  discovery  of  most  marvelous  and  far-reaching 
import,  a  discovery  which  had  intimate  and  vital  relation 
to  the  most  serious  experiences  of  life.  In  the  interest 
of  burdened  and  sorrowing  humanity,  he  felt  constrained 
to  make  this  discovery  known  as  glad  tidings  for  all 
men. 

This  fact  of  the  sustaining  power  of  the  grace  of  God 
has  often  been  verified.  Many  in  every  age  have  con- 
firmed it.  But  if  we  would  appreciate  the  pioneer  ser- 
vice which  the  apostle  rendered  to  the  world,  we  need 
to  remember  that  he  had  not,  as  we  have  to-day,  a  long 
record  of  Christian  testimony  to  turn  to  for  his  encourage- 
ment, or  to  stimulate  his  confidence;  he  had  to  break 
ground,  as  it  were,  had  to  test  this  proffered  grace 
virtually  at  first  hand,  had  to  make  his  way,  cut  a  pathway 
through  a  thick  and  tangled  forest  of  every  imaginable 
difficulty  and  trial  like  Stanley,  pressing  his  way  through 


VALUE   OF  PERSONAL  EXPERIENCE  Iir 

the  dense  and  almost  limitless  forest  in  the  interior  of  the 
Dark  Continent.  He  had  to  learn  these  lessons  for 
himself,  and  the  testimony  he  bears  as  to  their  value  is 
a  legacy  for  all  generations. 

There  is  need  of  a  fresh  emphasis  upon  this  same  fact 
or  possibility  of  Christian  experience  to-day.  Many 
Christian  people  fail  to  realize  their  high  privileges  in 
this  direction,  while  multitudes  of  others  seem  never  to 
have  heard  that  relief  and  comfort,  adequate  to  support 
one  in  the  deepest  trials,  have  ever  been  provided.  This 
is  a  world  of  unrest,  trial  and  sorrow,  and  this  notwith- 
standing the  many  bright  and  pleasant  things  which  we 
are  permitted  to  enjoy.  No  one  is  free  from  trouble. 
The  existence  of  sorrow  is  a  fact  of  human  experience. 
Each  heart  knoweth  its  own  bitterness,  and  the  saddest 
thing  of  all  is  that  so  large  a  proportion,  even  of  Christian 
people,  seem  to  be  sorrowing  as  those  without  hope.  Has 
the  discovery  of  the  apostle,  announced  so  long  ago,  been 
forgotten?  Has  the  remedy  for  human  woe,  so  fully 
tested  in  his  experience,  become  obsolete  ?  Has  the  grace 
of  God  in  any  measure  lost  its  effectiveness  and  power? 
Or  is  the  difficulty  with  those  who  do  not  or  will  not 
believe,  or  fully  believe,  or  open  their  hearts  to  receive  ? 

A  noble  testimony  as  to  the  power  of  the  gospel  was 
given  by  a  clergyman  at  his  examination  preliminary  to 
his  installation  as  pastor  of  a  church  to  which  he  had 
been  called.  He  told  the  story  of  his  life,  of  his  mental 
struggles,  of  physical  perils  upon  a  score  of  battlefields, 
of  perplexities  and  anxieties  in  a  hundred  forms  since,  of 
having  been  called  to  stand  by  the  bedside  of  the  dying, 
and  to  administer  comfort  to  the  living,  and  then,  finally, 
of  how,  within  a  few  consecutive  weeks,  he  had  been 
called  to  part  with  one,  two,  three  of  his  own  dear  chil- 
dren, victims  of  malignant  disease.  Yet  through  all 
these  ordeals,  many  of  the  severest  kind,  he  had  found  the 
gospel  of  Christ  to  be  everything  which  it  had  been 
represented  to  be  in  the  divine  Word.  It  had  never 


H2  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

failed  him.  This  is  a  modern  confirmation — one  of 
multitudes  of  instances — of  that  which  was  so  fully 
wrought  out  in  the  experience  of  Paul.  Many  professed 
Christians  may  know  all  this  theoretically,  but  they  fail 
to  apply  it,  or  fully  to  apply  it,  in  their  own  condition. 
So  they  remain  in  the  valleys,  when  they  might  be  upon 
the  heights,  are  in  the  shadow  when  they  might  be  in  the 
light,  go  groping  about  in  the  dark  when  the  way 
might  be  luminous  before  them,  cast  down  when  they 
might  be  exalted,  weeping  when  they  might  rejoice,  in 
bonds  when  they  might  be  free,  in  spiritual  poverty  when 
they  might  be  rich.  Paul's  discovery  has  shown  the 
world  a  more  excellent  way. 

3.  A  third  great  lesson  or  truth,  which  was  demon- 
strated in  Paul's  experience,  is  the  reality  of  another 
world  and  the  certainty  for  believers  of  an  abundant  and 
blessed  entrance  into  it  at  length.  The  assurance  of  this 
proved  in  his  case  to  be  both  a  mighty  inspiration  for 
faithful  Christian  service  in  this  life,  and  to  calmness  and 
an  assured  confidence  for  the  final  hour. 

Christ  had  brought  "life  and  incorruption  to  light 
through  the  gospel" — i.  e.,  had  revealed  them,  thrown 
light  upon  them.  That  which  was  dim  and  unreal  before, 
which  had  long  been  guessed  at  and  speculated 
over  in  vain,  was  now  made  plain.  It  was  no 
longer  vague  and  uncertain.  Another  world  was 
a  reality.  Christ  came  out  from  it,  experienced 
a  constant  and  vivid  sense  of  it,  bore  testi- 
mony in  regard  to  it  after  his  resurrection,  and  there,  we 
are  told,  he  ever  lives  even  to  this  day.  Furthermore, 
he  had  declared  that  where  he  was  his  disciples  were  to  be 
also,  to  dwell  with  him  forever.  And  so  real  was  all 
this  to  the  apostle,  and  so  united  was  he  to  Christ  in 
sympathy,  faith  and  personal  devotion,  that  his  thoughts 
were  ever  reaching  upward  to  this  heavenly  abode  where 
Christ  was.  Everything,  indeed,  in  his  aspiration, 
gathered  about  his  now  glorified  Lord.  Sometimes  he 


VALUE  OF  PERSONAL  EXPERIENCE 


was  so  exalted  in  spirit  that  he  hardly  knew  whether  he 
was  in  the  body  or  out  of  it.  He  heard  unutterable 
things;  he  had  visions  of  indescribable  glories.  And 
so  real  were  they  to  him,  and  so  blessed,  that  he  even 
longed  to  depart  and  be  with  his  Lord,  something  from 
which  we,  notwithstanding  all  the  joy  which  we  have 
been  taught  to  associate  with  such  an  event,  are  wont  to 
shrink.  Thus  spiritual  and  eternal  things  were  very  real 
to  Paul,  were  the  only  real  and  enduring  things,  in  fact. 
All  else  was  but  temporary  and  transitory,  and  was  of 
value  only  as  it  was  related  to  that  which  was  to  come. 

The  sense  which  the  apostle  had  of  the  reality  of  the 
world  to  come  was  a  constant  and  mighty  inspiration 
to  aggressive  Christian  service.  The  time  was  short; 
the  work  to  be  done  was  great.  Multitudes  were  perish- 
ing in  their  sins.  He  felt  that  necessity  was  laid  upon 
him  to  do  all  in  his  power  for  their  rescue.  "Woe  is  unto 
me,  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel."  In  the  discharge  of  this 
duty  he  was  buoyed  up  as  by  a  great  hope,  a  confident 
expectation  of  the  future,  and  he  looked  forward  to  the 
time  of  his  departure  with  keen  anticipation.  It  was  with 
perfect  calmness  that  he  awaited  the  final  summons, 
not  to  a  peaceful  end,  but  to  a  violent  death.  "For  I 
am  already  being  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure 
is  come.  I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have  finished 
the  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith :  henceforth  there  is  laid 
up  for  me  the  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord, 
the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day:  and 
not  only  to  me,  but  also  to  all  them  that  have  loved  his 
appearing"  (2  Tim.  4:6-8). 

What  was  true  in  Paul's  case  has  been  true  in  thou- 
sands, tens  of  thousands  of  instances  since.  Men  have 
been  enabled  to  face  death  calmly  through  the  grace  of 
God  and  a  sense  of  the  reality  of  the  realm  to  which 
they  confidently  looked  forward.  Without  a  murmur 
on  their  part,  they  have  been  cast  to  wild  beasts  which 
were  waiting  to  devour  them;  they  have  gone  to  the 

VIII 


1 14  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

stake  singing  as  they  went;  they  have  been  tormented, 
tortured,  suffered  all  manner  of  cruel  persecutions,  have 
gone  unmoved  to  violent  deaths,  upheld  by  the  sustain- 
ing power  of  the  grace  of  God  which  Paul  had  found 
so  real  in  his  experience,  and  by  which  they  were  made 
confident  of  the  glorious  realities  to  come. 

What  a  power  such  a  sense  of  the  reality  of  the  world 
to  come  would  be  in  our  lives !  Sometimes,  in  our  more 
favored  moments,  we  seem  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the 
glory  to  be  revealed,  but  for  the  most  part  this  glory  is 
imperceptible.  Mists  from  the  earth  obscure  it.  Clouds 
intervene  to  obstruct  it.  Yet  Paul  speaks  with  all  con- 
fidence of  the  world  to  come,  of  life  in  it,  of  the  glory 
and  blessedness  of  that  life,  and  urges  those  to  whom  he 
writes  to  strengthen  their  faith  by  constant  thought  of  it 
and  by  anticipation  of  the  joy  which  they  shall  have  when 
they  enter  into  it.  What  we  need  to  do  is  to  fix  the 
eye  of  faith  unalterably  upon  Christ,  and  to  dwell  upon 
the  certainties  which  the  apostle  discovered  in  that  world 
whither  Christ  had  gone  and  of  which  he  has  written,  so 
that  our  sense  of  it  may  become  more  vivid.  We  may 
not  rise  to  a  full  realization  of  it  at  once;  we  may  gain 
only  momentary  glimpses  of  that  which  is  to  be,  during 
our  earthly  pilgrimage;  still,  we  shall  be  conscious  of 
blessed  influences  coming  into  our  lives  from  that  realm 
of  the  blessed,  and  we  shall  be  sustained  by  an  ever- 
deepening  conviction  of  these  invisible  and  eternal  reali- 
ties, till  at  length,  when  we  are  called  to  go  hence,  it  may 
be  that  such  an  experience  will  be  permitted  us  as  often 
comes  to  the  departing  Christian.  Thus  it  was  with 
one  who  was  well  known  in  the  ministry  in  the  State 
wherein  he  had  for  a  long  time  resided.  Just  before  he 
breathed  his  last  he  seemed  to  rally  for  a  few  moments 
from  his  unconsciousness,  and  lifting  his  eyes  upward 
with  intensest  interest  depicted  on  his  countenance,  and 
rea chine:  out  his  hand  as  if  to  grasp  something,  he 
exclaimed,  "Oh,  the  angels !  Oh,  the  angels !"  and  then 
expired. 


VALUE  OF  PERSONAL  EXPERIENCE 


The  nature  of  such  an  experience  we  can  not  know,  but 
we  do  know  that  many  have  had  it  or  something  akin  to 
it,  as  if  they  were  catching  their  first  glimpse  of  the 
glories  of  the  eternal  world,  and  of  the  divine  messengers 
who  had  come  to  guide  them  on  their  way  to  it. 

These  spiritual  realities  and  these  fore-glimpses  of  the 
hereafter,  which  from  time  to  time  are  granted  to  God's 
trusting  ones,  should  mightily  confirm  our  faith,  impart 
new  dignity  to  the  present  life,  and  make  it  glorious  with 
the  light  which  constantly  streams  upon  us  from  above 
and  which  transfuses  all  that  is  common  and  painful  into 
beauty  and  joy.  Thus  we  may  have  an  assured  con- 
fidence that  when  we  at  last  come  to  pass  through  the 
dark  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  we  shall  ourselves 
fear  no  evil,  for  his  rod  and  his  staff  will  comfort  us. 

These,  then,  are  some  of  the  realities  of  this  realm  of 
faith  which  were  wrought  out  in  the  experience  of  Paul 
and  placed  upon  record  for  all  time.  He  was  a  bold 
adventurer  in  an  untried  sphere.  Even  now,  after  all 
that  we  know  of  the  past  and  of  its  spiritual  triumphs,  it 
seems  a  courageous  thing  for  any  one  to  venture  literally 
upon  the  declarations  and  promises  of  God,  actually  to 
rest  in  them,  and  we  look  upon  him  who  does  so  as  a 
man  of  marvelous  faith.  But  Paul  struck  out  into  ter- 
ritory until  his  time  mainly  untraversed,  with  but  limited 
data  to  guide  him,  and  boldly  pushed  his  way  through 
darkness  and  doubt  to  the  results  which  he  reached,  and 
which,  out  of  a  profound  conviction  of  their  worth,  he 
proclaimed  with  unprecedented  earnestness  and  power. 
His  gospel  was  a  mighty  spiritual  power  of  God  unto 
salvation.  It  destroyed  the  power  of  sin.  Its  resources 
proved  to  be  abundantly  adequate  to  sustain  him  in  the 
severest  distress  and  suffering  through  which  he  was 
called  to  pass;  it  made  the  other  world  real  to  him  and 
imparted  a  glorious  hope  in  regard  to  it;  it  afforded  a 
constant  and  powerful  incentive  to  press  onward  through 
the  multiplied  and  increasing  ills  of  this  present  life  in 


H6  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

carrying  out  his  all-mastering  purpose  to  preach  this 
gospel  throughout  the  world;  it  gave  him  a  sense  of 
strength  which  no  trial  could  weaken,  and  a  calm  assur- 
ance that  when  he  drew  near  to  his  final  hour  his  Lord 
would  be  with  him.  These  were  facts  of  his  own  experi- 
ence. They  were  discoveries  which  he  himself  had  made. 
They  were  tremendous  realities  in  the  life  of  his  own  soul, 
and  such  was  the  strength  of  his  conviction  in  regard  to 
their  importance  that  he  was  constrained  to  devote  his 
life  to  a  world-wide  proclamation  of  them. 

A  pressing  need  to-day  is  a  new  emphasis  upon  these 
verities  of  the  gospel.  Men  are  hungering  for  gospel 
truth.  They  may  not  be  able  to  define  or  to  formulate 
their  own  sense  of  this  need,  but  the  need  exists,  and 
Christ's  gospel  is  the  divine  response  to  all  these  cravings 
of  the  soul.  The  gospel  has  not  lost  its  power.  Its 
resources  are  not  diminished.  The  difficulty  is  that  there 
is  so  little  belief  in  the  spiritual  facts.  It  was  unbelief 
which  prevented  Christ  from  doing  mighty  works  in 
many  places  when  he  was  on  earth,  and  it  is  the  practical 
unbelief  of  the  friends  of  Christ  to-day  which  is  block- 
ing the  progress  of  the  Kingdom.  Too  often  gospel 
verities  are  kept  in  the  background  in  the  preaching  of 
the  times,  or  are  set  forth  only  in  a  faint  and  timid 
undertone.  With  a  new  emphasis  upon  them,  not  only 
would  the  faith  of  believers  be  toned  up,  and  many  people 
now  indifferent  be  led  to  receive  the  truth;  it  would  do 
much  to  counteract  and  correct  the  tendency,  now  so 
manifest  in  many  quarters,  even  with  not  a  few  Christian 
people,  to  seek  satisfaction  in  the  various  religious  sub- 
stitutes which  from  time  to  time  arise  in  different  forms 
and  under  different  names,  such  as  Christian  Science, 
Spiritualism,  Ethical  Culture,  Theosophy  and  kindred 
follies.  Dissatisfied  with  what  is  presented  them  as  the 
gospel  and  the  truths  of  revelation,  they  seek  satisfac- 
tion from  other  sources.  A  reassertion  of  these  spiritual 
verities  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  and  which 


VALUE  OF  PERSONAL  EXPERIENCE 


117 


Paul  wrought  out  in  his  experience,  could  not  fail  to  make 
plain,  by  contrast,  the  worthlessness  of  all  substitutes  for 
the  gospel,  and  the  complete  satisfaction  which  is  to  be 
found  in  the  grace  of  God  as  made  known  in  Jesus 
Christ. 


VIII 

POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS  AS  TO  THINGS  SPECIALLY 

NEEDED  IN  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 

IN  THESE  TIMES 

In  their  main  features  Christian  life  and  character  are 
always  and  everywhere  essentially  the  same,  yet  with 
wide  diversities  of  expression.  Each  life  has  its  excel- 
lences and  deficiencies,  each  character  its  peculiarities  and 
its  needs.  The  same  is  true  of  communities  as  com- 
pared with  each  other,  and  of  different  countries  lying 
adjacent,  even  of  different  periods  or  epochs  of  time. 
Each  community,  each  country,  each  epoch  of  time, 
differs  in  the  type  of  Christian  manhood  or  womanhood 
which  it  produces,  has  distinctive  characteristics  of  its 
own,  points  of  strength  or  weakness  peculiar  to  itself. 
Hence,  in  order  to  reach  the  most  perfect  exemplification 
of  the  Christian  life  and  spirit  at  any  time  or  anywhere, 
certain  prevailing  tendencies  must  be  repressed,  certain 
deficiencies  be  supplemented,  certain  qualities  receive  a 
special  and  renewed  emphasis.  The  one  inspiring,  in- 
working  gospel  remains  unchanged,  but  the  new  exigen- 
cies which  constantly  arise  demand  new  adaptations  and 
fresh  adjustments  of  it. 

These  facts  suggest  the  practical  inquiry  as  to  what 
aspects  of  Christian  life  and  character  need  special 
emphasis  now,  or  should  be  made  to  stand  out  in  more 
than  usually  bold  relief  in  the  age  in  which  we  live.  We 
ask  these  questions  in  view  of  certain  misconceptions 
as  to  the  nature  and  obligations  of  Christianity  which  are 
widely  prevalent  in  Christian  society. 

The  first  of  these  misconceptions  relates  to  the  import- 

118 


CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


119 


ance  of  clearly  apprehending  the  grounds  of  confidence 
in  Christ  and  his  salvation.  Many  Christian  people  fail 
to  appreciate  the  value  of  an  intelligent  faith,  or  the  vital 
relation  which  it  sustains  to  Christian  life  and  character. 
As  a  consequence,  they  make  no  effort  to  enlarge  their 
knowledge  of  the  facts  upon  which  Christianity  rests; 
to  increase  their  information  in  regard  to  its  nature  and 
the  results  it  has  produced.  Since  their  convictions  are 
not  well  established,  since  their  faith  is  feeble,  since  their 
characters  are  weak  and  unformed,  they  fall  a  ready  prey 
to  temptations  which  easily  destroy  their  last  faint  hope  in 
Christ. 

A  second  misconception  relates  to  the  true  basis  of 
Christian  character.  That  basis  is  righteousness.  Yet 
many  Christian  people  do  not  recognize  this;  they  lay 
little  stress  upon  conscience  as  the  voice  of  God  in  the 
soul.  The  fact  is  strangely  overlooked  that  the  primary 
aim  of  the  Christian  religion  is  to  effect  a  moral  trans- 
formation in  life  and  character.  Consequently,  while 
there  are  shining  examples  everywhere  of  thorough- 
going piety  and  of  genuine  Christian  conscientiousness, 
it  is  a  sad  fact  that  far  too  much  of  the  religious  life  of 
the  times  is  of  a  superficial  type,  springing  out  of  a  soil 
which  has  no  moral  depth. 

A  third  misconception  has  to  do  with  spirituality  of  life. 
There  is  a  failure  to  perceive  any  particular  distinction 
between  the  character  and  spirit  of  the  true  Christian, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  character  and  spirit  of  a  good 
moral  man  who  makes  no  pretension  whatever  to  a  godly 
life,  on  the  other.  The  ordinary,  natural  virtues,  all 
of  which  are  good  as  far  as  they  go,  are  accounted 
sufficient.  There  is  little  thought  of  anything  higher 
than  these,  no  aspiration  after  true  holiness,  no  purpose 
to  develop  the  graces  of  the  Spirit.  Many  people  do  not 
think  it  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  clear  line  of 
demarcation  between  the  lives  of  professing  Christians 
and  the  lives  of  people  of  the  world.  Religion  is  largely 


120  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

negative,  is  devoid  of  vitality,  is  without  aggressiveness, 
has  no  spiritual  power,  exerts  little  influence  upon  charac- 
ter, has  little  relation  to  life. 

In  order  to  remove  these  misconceptions  of  the  true 
spirit  and  scope  of  the  Christian  life,  and  to  answer  press- 
ing inquiries  as  to  what  aspects  of  Christian  life  and 
character  need  special  emphasis,  it  may  be  said : 

I.  There  is  need  of  a  more  intelligent  faith.  Faith 
is  essentially  love  or  trust.  Its  object  is  a  person.  That 
person  is  Jesus  Christ.  The  spirit  of  loyal  devotion,  of 
loving  obedience  to  him,  constitutes  the  very  essence  of 
the  Christian  religion,  the  substance  of  Christian  obliga- 
tion. In  proportion,  therefore,  as  one  really  knows  whom 
he  has  believed,  not  only  from  a  practical  experience  of 
his  saving  grace,  but  through  an  intelligent  apprehension 
of  his  character,  his  requirements,  and  the  reason  of  our 
confidence  in  him,  will  one's  devotion  be  likely  to  be 
most  faithful,  one's  obedience  most  conscientious  and 
complete,  the  committal  of  one's  soul's  interests  to  his 
keeping  the  most  sweet  and  restful.  Let  one  become 
convinced,  as  one  may  be,  of  the  solid  basis  there  is  for 
confidence  in  the  historic  facts  on  which  the  superstruct- 
ure of  the  Christian  faith  is  reared;  let  one  realize  how 
perfectly  it  is  adapted  to  the  profoundest  needs  of  human 
nature,  and  how  wondrous  are  the  moral  transformations 
which  are  always  effected  by  it  whenever  it  is  allowed  free 
scope;  let  one  become  familiar  with  its  history,  its 
triumphant  progress,  its  marvelous  achievements  in  every 
sphere;  let  one's  faith  in  Christ  and  the  gospel  of  his  love 
become  really  intelligent,  established  in  rational  con- 
viction, grounded,  in  fact,  in  every  department  of  one's 
nature;  life  and  character  will  then  be  constantly  brought 
under  the  influence  of  the  loftiest  incentives,  under  the 
transforming  power  of  Christ's  own  example  and  spirit, 
and  the  principles  of  righteousness  become  more  and  more 
incorporated  into  the  very  fiber  of  one's  being.  At  the 
same  time,  any  danger  of  being  swayed  from  his  con- 


CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  I2i 

fidence  by  a  passing  breeze  of  strange  doctrine,  or  of  being 
easily  turned  from  the  faith,  like  the  foolish  Galatians,  by 
some  other  gospel  which  is  not  a  gospel,  would  be  dimin- 
ished in  corresponding  degree.  It  is  more  of  this  kind 
of  faith,  intelligent,  rational,  strong,  able  to  give  a  satis- 
factory account  of  itself  to  one's  own  soul,  or  to  others, 
which  is  one  of  the  urgent  needs  of  the  times. 

Not  all  faith  is  of  this  intelligent  character.  Many 
believe  for  no  other  reason  than  that  their  fathers  believed 
before  them;  or  because  some  one  else  believes  and  has 
advised  them  to  believe  also,  and  to  join  a  church  which 
happens  to  be  popular;  or  they  have  been  led,  under  some 
special  pressure  or  impulse,  to  yield  assent  to  current  re- 
ligious beliefs,  but  without  thought  or  investigation  of 
their  own  personal  need.  In  such  circumstances,  when 
at  length  a  mental  awakening  comes,  if  ever  it  does  come, 
and  one  is  led  to  inquire  into  the  grounds  of  his  traditional 
beliefs,  he  is  liable  to  fall  into  confusion  and  embarrass- 
ment. Unable  to  give  a  satisfactory  reason  to  his  own 
mind  for  the  hopes  he  cherishes,  a  person  may  conclude 
that  none  can  be  given,  and  so  either  yield  to  despair,  or 
assume  that  all  is  a  delusion  and  abandon  the  Christian 
faith  altogether.  That  is,  when  the  rains  descend  and 
the  floods  come,  as  sooner  or  later  they  will,  in  the  form 
of  mighty  attacks  of  skepticism  and  unbelief,  the  founda- 
tions, which  have  been  built  upon  the  sand,  are  under- 
mined, the  superstructure  which  has  been  reared  upon  it 
is  utterly  destroyed. 

To  accept  Christ  upon  trust,  intellectually  as  well  as 
spiritually,  may  be  right  and  proper  in  childhood,  or  in 
early  youth,  but  it  should  hardly  be  regarded  as  sufficient 
for  thoughtful  years  or  mature  experience,  especially  in 
an  age  when  everything  seems  to  be  tested  by  the 
standards  of  human  reason.  And  yet,  too  many  Christian 
people  are  content  to  remain  all  their  lives  long  just  where 
they  were  in  childhood,  on  the  threshold  of  the  new  life. 
They  never  get  beyond  the  most  rudimentary  things; 


122  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

their  faith  becomes  no  more  intelligent  with  the  years; 
they  are  no  better  able  to  give  a  reason  for  their  hope; 
their  characters  are  no  more  staunch  and  steadfast;  their 
anticipations  no  more  bright  and  confident,  than  when 
they  first  believed. 

President  Finney  tells  the  story  of  an  old  professor  of 
religion,  who,  on  his  dying  bed,  began  to  be  anxious  con- 
cerning the  future.  All  the  evidence  he  possessed  that 
he  was  a  Christian,  and  the  foundation  of  his  hope,  was  in 
the  form  of  a  statement  of  his  experience  which  had  been 
written  at  the  time  of  his  supposed  conversion.  This 
had  been  filed  away  for  safe  keeping,  along  with  other  im- 
portant papers.  In  his  distress,  the  man  called  for  it, 
that  he  might  reread  it,  and  thereby  renew  his  confidence 
and  reinforce  his  courage.  What  was  his  dismay  when 
he  was  told  that  the  mice  had  been  among  his  papers  and 
made  sad  havoc  with  them  all,  and  had  destroyed  this 
all-important  document  with  the  rest!  The  man  had 
trusted  this  written  statement  for  the  foundation  of  his 
faith.  In  his  sorest  need  it  failed  him  utterly.  Where 
now  was  his  hope?  And  yet  the  ground  of  many  a 
professing  Christian  man's  confidence  to-day  is  hardly 
more  intelligent  or  substantial  than  this. 

It  is  only  as  the  head  has  been  informed  after 
the  heart  has  been  touched  and  moved,  only 
as  the  certainty  of  the  underlying  facts  of  Christianity 
becomes  firmly  established  in  the  convictions,  that 
the  Christian  faith  can  be  said  to  be  robust,  vigorous, 
reliable,  safe.  Not  only  does  such  a  faith  constitute 
an  immovable  foundation  for  righteous  character, 
it  renders  its  possessor  secure  against  the  poisonous 
influence  of  a  subtle  skeptical  malaria  which  seems  to  per- 
vade the  very  air  we  breathe,  proof  against  ill-judged  and 
unwarranted  criticisms  upon  the  sacred  Word,  guarded 
against  the  bold,  unscriptural  speculations  which  are 
now  often  urged  and  propagated  with  a  persistency 
and  zeal  worthy  of  the  actual  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ,  im- 


CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  123 

pervious  against  the  assaults  of  the  infidelity  of  the  times, 
so  rampant  and  defiant.  Only  such  a  faith  as  this, 
rational,  strong,  clear,  can  hope  to  exert  or  long  to  main- 
tain a  controlling  influence  over  the  intelligence  and  cul- 
ture which  are  but  the  legitimate  outgrowth  of  our  history 
and  institutions.  Fortunately,  the  Christian  religion 
furnishes  in  itself  abundant  reasons  for  a  faith  like  this. 
Its  resources,  never  yet  fully  developed,  much  less  ex- 
hausted, are  equal  to  the  most  exacting  demands  which 
may  be  made  upon  it.  It  shrinks  from  nothing,  invites, 
rather,  the  most  thorough  and  searching  examination.  It 
allies  itself  with  the  highest  intelligence,  has  reason,  truth, 
conscience,  a  mighty  history  on  its  side.  In  such  cir- 
cumstances, with  everything  in  its  favor,  it  will  be  through 
no  fault  of  its  own  if  ever  it  suffers  loss  in  its  encounter 
with  its  foes.  If  if  ever  fails  to  exert  the  influence  or  to 
make  the  progress  which  it  ought,  it  will  be  because  its 
resources  have  not  been  sufficiently  appreciated,  its  char- 
acter and  potency  as  intelligently  apprehended  as  they 
might  be,  by  its  would-be  champions  or  its  leaders  in  ag- 
gressive effort. 

A  Russian  officer  once  said  to  an  Englishman, 
referring  to  the  Crimean  war :  "It  was  worth  all  it  cost 
to  us  of  defeat  and  loss,  because  it  taught  us  the  great 
lesson,  learned  from  the  English,  of  the  superior  value  of 
an  intelligent  soldiery."  Those  men  in  our  Civil  War 
who  best  appreciated  the  character  of  their  country,  its 
history,  its  institutions,  its  liberties,  the  transcendent  in- 
terests involved  in  its  preservation,  whose  faith  in  it  and 
the  righteousness  of  its  cause  was  most  truly  intelligent, 
were  its  bravest  defenders,  the  most  prompt  in  duty,  the 
most  valiant  in  conflict.  So,  the  more  intelligent  one's 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ  and  his  cause,  in  his  gospel  and  his 
wrord  of  truth,  the  more  likely  one  is,  other  things  being 
equal,  to  be  immovably  established  in  Christian  character 
and  conviction,  and  the  more  zealously  to  strive  for  the 
speedy  triumph  of  that  kingdom  of  whose  ultimate  suc- 
cess he  is  unalterably  persuaded. 


124 


POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 


2.  In  order  to  meet  the  misconception  that  arises  from 
thinking  that  the  Christian  religion  has  little  to  do  with 
character,  with  righteousness,  or  with  moral  obligation, 
emphasis  should  be  placed  on  the  fact  that  a  great  need  of 
the  times  in  which  we  live  is  more  conscience,  a  greatly 
quickened  moral  sense  among  Christian  people,  a  more 
loyal  devotion  to  convictions  of  ri^ht  and  duty,  character 
and  conduct  more  scrupulously  squared  by  the  standards 
of  the  Word  and  the  life  and  example  of  Jesus  Christ. 

There  are  indications  of  a  marked  decline,  if  not  decay, 
of  the  conscientious  spirit  in  the  present,  as  compared 
with  former  times.  To  say  that  one  bears  the  Christian 
name  and  is  a  member  in  good  standing  in  a  Christian 
church  is  by  no  means  always  synonymous  with  saying 
that  he  is  the  very  soul  of  integrity  and  honor,  that  the 
obligations  of  conscience  and  duty  are  more  keenly  felt 
than  before,  or  than  in  the  case  of  many  who  are  leading 
godless  lives.  There  is  too  much  reason  for  the  sus- 
picion, sometimes  expressed,  of  a  divorce  between  religion 
and  righteousness,  between  the  Christian  profession  and 
conscience. 

This  comparatively  low  moral  tone  is  variously  mani- 
fested. It  appears  in  social  life,  responsibility  for  the 
character  and  standard  of  which  rests  very  largely  upon 
its  Christian  elements;  in  the  feeble  protest  made  against 
reprehensible  vices;  in  the  readiness  with  which  moral 
lapses — among  men,  of  course — are  condoned,  provided 
only  the  offenders  be  of  sufficiently  high  social  standing; 
in  the  absence  of  a  nice  and  sensitive  regard  for  the  truth, 
apparent  in  complimentary  falsehoods  and  polite  lying; 
while  it  is  getting  to  be  so  common  as  to  be  expected 
almost  as  a  matter  of  course  that  one's  religion  will  be 
largely  left  behind  if  one  removes  from  the  East  to  the 
West,  or  passes  a  vacation  at  some  fashionable  resort. 

It  is  seen  in  business  life  in  the  constant  disposition  to 
overreach  or  in  some  way  to  take  selfish  advantage  when- 
ever possible;  in  the  ignoring  often  by  Christian  em- 


CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


125 


ployers  and  employed  alike  of  the  Golden  Rule  in  their 
relations  to  each  other;  in  the  incurring  of  obligations 
which  it  is  morally  certain  can  never  be  met;  in  the 
failures  which  leave  one,  or  one's  wife,  in  comparative 
affluence,  with  no  thought  for  the  just  claims  of  needy 
creditors;  in  astonishing  defalcations,  getting  to  be  sadly 
frequent  even  among  men  of  high  standing  in  the  church. 

It  is  manifested  in  the  demagoguery  of  political  life; 
in  the  questionable  practices  pursued  to  secure  preferment, 
even  by  Christian  men;  in  the  elevation  of  those  utterly 
unworthy,  men  of  unsavory  reputation  even,  to  be  the 
standard-bearers  of  great  political  parties. 

It  appears  in  the  Christian  Church,  in  the  lax  discipline 
which  so  often  prevails;  in  its  loose  business  methods, 
especially  in  neglecting  promptly  to  meet  financial 
obligations,  regardless  of  the  inconvenience  and  even 
suffering  thereby  occasioned;  in  the  failure  of  its 
members  to  pay  pew-rents  or  meet  subscriptions 
when  due;  in  indifference  to  the  claims  of  Christian 
benevolence  which  are  properly  brought  to  its  notice, 
especially  in  its  niggardly  contributions  for  the  cause 
of  missions,  both  home  and  foreign;  in  its  undue 
deference  to  the  wealthy,  and  in  a  corresponding  neglect 
of  the  poor;  in  its  unconcern  in  view  of  the  alarming 
growth  of  Sabbath  desecration  in  this  country,  to  say 
nothing  of  carelessness  in  regard  to  one's  own  example; 
in  a  culpable  apathy  in  regard  to  public  reform  move- 
ments, particularly  the  temperance  cause,  which  is  not 
excused  by  the  mere  fact  that  judgments  differ  as  to  the 
practical  methods  of  carrying  them  on. 

This  same  lack  of  conscience  is  sometimes  apparent 
even  in  the  pulpit,  in  disregarding  high  principle  and  in 
truckling  to  popular  whims  and  worldly  ways  in  the 
interest  of  personal  popularity;  in  yielding  to  clamorous 
demands  for  salvation-made-easy  preaching,  regardless 
of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ  and  set  forth  in  his  Word; 
in  refraining  from  faithful  proclamation  of  the  whole 


126  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

truth  for  mere  prudential  considerations;  and  when  one, 
having  confessedly  departed  from  the  standards  of  the 
church  or  denomination  with  which  he  has  been  identified, 
insists  on  retaining  his  place  and  standing  at  the  expense 
of  infinite  mischief  and  disturbance,  rather  than  quietly 
and  honorably  withdrawing  and  joining  the  denomina- 
tion with  which  he  has  come  to  be  in  hearty  sympathy. 

These  are  some  of  the  many  ways  in  which,  in  different 
spheres  and  relations  in  life,  this  lack  of  a  thorough  con- 
scientiousness on  the  part  of  many  Christian  people  is 
made  unmistakably  apparent.  They  are  but  the  outward 
signs  of  moral  deterioration  within.  Christian  principle 
is  subordinated  to  worldly  policy.  Conscience,  if  not 
slumbering  or  suppressed,  is  certainly  not  keyed  to  high 
Christian  standards.  It  is  flexible,  easily  adjustable,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  celebrated  English  statesman,  who,  on 
being  asked  how  he  had  contrived  to  hold  office,  both 
under  the  governments  of  Queen  Mary  the  Papist  and 
Queen  Elizabeth  the  Protestant — twro  sovereigns  and  two 
policies  unlike  even  to  the  point  of  bitter  antagonism — 
pointedly  replied,  "By  always  imitating  the  willow  instead 
of  the  oak."  There  are  too  many  descendants  of  the 
facile  Englishman  in  Christian  ranks.  Their  consciences 
are  like  the  easily  bending  willow,  rather  than  the  sturdy, 
unyielding  oak. 

The  results  of  all  this  are  most  disastrous  to  the  cause 
of  Christ.  It  is  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  obstacles  to 
the  progress  of  the  kingdom.  Christian  character  is 
demoralized.  The  Christian  profession  is  at  a  discount. 
The  Christian  religion  is  misrepresented  and  yet  is  held 
responsible.  The  Christian  Church  is  a  less  mighty 
power  for  righteousness  among  men  than  it  ought  to 
be  and  might  be.  Judging  of  the  reality  of  the  religious 
life  and  the  sincerity  of  the  Christian  profession  by  the 
daily  lives  of  the  professors,  as  they  have  the  right  to 
do,  worldly-minded  people  lose  confidence  in  it,  become 
more  and  and  more  indifferent  to  it,  are  often  altogether 


CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


alienated  from  it.  Manifestly,  one  of  the  great  needs  of 
the  times,  even  among  Christian  people,  is  more  con- 
science, a  thorough-going  conscientiousness  pervading 
the  whole  being,  dominating  the  life,  manifesting  itself 
in  all  relations  —  not  the  hard,  angular  conscientiousness 
which  is  so  forbidding  and  repulsive,  but  that  tender 
and  sensitive  conscientiousness,  suffused  with  love,  so 
beautifully  exemplified  in  the  life  of  Christ,  in  the  case  of 
Paul,  and  of  which  in  more  recent  times  the  life  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  affords  a  conspicuous  illustration. 

If  this  great  and  fundamental  need  of  the  times  is  ever 
to  be  met,  the  place  at  which  to  commence  is  Jerusalem. 
Judgment  must  begin  at  the  house  of  God.  Christian 
people  must  elevate  the  standard  and  lead  off  in  the  re- 
form. A  revival  of  righteousness,  a  mighty  rising  tide 
of  honesty,  integrity,  conscientiousness,  within  the 
Christian  Church  is  one  of  the  urgent  needs  of  the  times 
in  which  we  live. 

3.  In  order  to  meet  the  misconception  which  arises 
from  regarding  the  Christian  life  as  a  matter  of  formal- 
ity, or  of  outward  respectability,  emphasis  should  be  laid 
on  the  fact  that  the  need  of  every  Christian,  both  for  him- 
self and  for  the  church  to  which  he  belongs,  is  an  increase 
of  spiritual  vitality.  This  vitality  springs  from  a  per- 
sonal union  with  the  personal  Christ.  This  produces 
oneness  of  spirit  with  him.  By  a  constant  inflowing  of 
the  divine  life,  the  soul  is  nourished  and  sustained,  as  the 
branch  is  nourished  by  its  union  with  the  vine.  Christ's 
life  is  reproduced  in  us.  Such  a  union  as  this  brings 
fulness  of  joy  and  continual  peace,  transfigures  duty, 
and  is  a  constant  inspiration  to  fidelity.  It  renders  the 
soul  responsive  to  the  loftiest  incentives  to  action,  tends 
to  awaken  and  sustain  a  holy  enthusiasm  in  Christian 
service,  causes  a  spirit  of  moral  earnestness  more  and 
more  to  pervade  the  life. 

We  all  know  how  far  short  of  the  standard  of  spiritual 
attainment  Christian  experience  ordinarily  falls,  and 


I28  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

how  many  lapses  there  are  from  it,  even  if  one  has 
approximated  to  it.  The  religious  life  of  many  has  no 
depth,  springs  from  no  profound  conviction,  yields  little 
or  no  satisfaction,  has  in  it  neither  vitality  nor  power. 
Its  formal,  external  character  is  patent  to  all.  A  deacon 
had  been  reproving  a  neighbor  for  profanity,  after  which 
this  neighbor  remarked,  ''Now  see  here,  deacon,  what's 
the  difference?  You  go  over  to  prayer-meeting  every 
week,  get  up  and  talk  and  pray,  and  once  in  a  while  I 
swear  a  little,  and  you  know  very  well  that  neither  of  us 
means  anything  by  it."  The  difficulty  is  that  there  is  no 
throbbing,  pulsing,  spiritual  life  within,  no  reaching  after 
higher  things,  no  vital  personal  love  for  the  personal 
Christ.  As  a  consequence,  worldliness  makes  easy 
inroads.  The  soul  is  in  no  sense  fortified  against  the 
seductive  influences  about  it.  A  spirit  of  indifference  and 
unconcern  is  quite  likely  to  take  possession  of  it,  if  indeed 
a  stroke  of  spiritual  paralysis  does  not  render  its  last 
condition  far  worse  than  the  first.  From  the  lack  of  that 
spiritual  vitality  which  is  invariably  present  when  there 
is  personal  union  of  the  disciple  with  his  Lord,  the 
Church  is  made  to  suffer  greatly  and  the  cause  of  Christ 
sadly  to  languish. 

Notice  now  two  practical  results  which  would  flow 
from  more  of  this  spiritual  vitality  in  the  hearts  of 
Christian  people : — 

(i)  In  the  first  place,  it  would  tend,  in  growing 
degree,  to  promote  individual  spiritual  security.  The 
power  of  temptation  and  sin  over  the  soul  would  be 
correspondingly  lessened.  One  would  be  lifted  above  the 
range  of  his  ordinary  besetments,  as  the  inflowing  tide 
lifts  the  stranded  ship  above  rocks  and  shoals.  All 
thought  and  interest  would  be  centered  on  Christ  and  his 
service.  There  would  be  little  room  for  anything  else. 
The  "expulsive  power  of  a  new  affection,"  as  Dr.  Chal- 
mers terms  it,  would  be  increasingly  experienced.  The 
sours  absorbing  love,  sweet  and  satisfying  in  itself,  would 


CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  129 

be  its  best,  its  strongest  protection.  So  long  as  its  truest 
life  continued  to  be  hid  with  Christ  in  God,  there  would 
be  virtual  security  against  anything  calculated  to  bring 
spiritual  harm. 

This  principle  is  constantly  and  variously  illustrated. 
How  often  a  man's  love  for  wife  and  children  operates 
as  a  shield  against  temptations  which  would  otherwise 
overpower  him !  How  many  a  young  man  has  been  held 
to  a  right  course  by  a  consuming  interest  in  some  worthy 
pursuit  or  aim !  How  often  a  new-found  love  for  Christ, 
in  the  case  of  a  converted  drunkard,  has  held  him  as  by 
an  anchor  from  drifting  back  to  old  ways  of  sinful  indul- 
gence! How  many  Christian  people  to-day  are  kept 
from  the  insidious,  devitalizing,  paralyzing  worldly  in- 
fluences about  them  by  the  very  fact  that,  burning  with- 
in their  souls,  there  is  this  satisfying  personal  devotion 
and  love  to  Jesus  Christ!  How  quickly  all  the  vexed 
questions  concerning  popular  amusements  would  be 
solved  were  Christian  hearts  more  aflame  with  this  per- 
sonal love!  Absorption  in  the  higher  would  constantly 
lessen  the  desire  for  the  lower.  Love  would  prompt  will- 
ing sacrifice  even  of  things  in  themselves  harmless,  rather 
than  to  be  an  occasion  of  moral  disaster  to  another. 

As  a  protection,  then,  from  the  power  of  temptation  and 
sin;  as  a  means  of  security  against  the  seductions  of  "the 
world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,"  now  leading  so  many 
Christians  astray,  undermining  their  influence,  destroy- 
ing their  usefulness,  blasting  their  hopes,  more  of  this 
personal  heart-union  with  Christ  is  one  of  the  imperative 
needs  of  the  day.  Without  it,  indeed,  no  Christian  can 
really  be  said  to  be  secure. 

(2)  But,  secondly,  more  spiritual  vitality  would 
furnish  the  loftiest  motives  to  Christian  fidelity  and  to 
aggressive  Christian  effort.  Love  for  Christ  touches 
the  very  center  of  all  life  and  action.  As  the  Christian 
disciple  comes  into  real  oneness  of  desire  and  aim  with 
his  Lord,  he  more  and  more  loves  what  he  loves,  hates 

IX 


130  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

what  he  hates,  and  is  moved  to  effort  to  promote  every  en- 
terprise known  to  be  dear  to  his  heart;  while  the  reactive 
influence  of  this  process  upon  himself  inevitably  deepens 
and  intensifies  his  entire  nature.  Mere  butterfly  concep- 
tions of  life,  the  listless,  aimless  habit  of  drifting  along 
day  by  day,  as  if  life  had  in  it  no  other  purpose  than  mere 
pleasure,  give  place  to  profound  moral  earnestness,  to 
an  anxious  desire  to  spend  one's  energies  in  ministering 
in  His  name  to  the  needs  of  mankind.  It  was  this 
spiritual  vitality  which  inspired  and  sustained  Paul  in  his 
unwavering  purpose,  girded  him  for  his  mighty  under- 
takings, nerved  him  to  face  undaunted  the  persistent 
opposition  which  everywhere  confronted  him,  comforted 
and  cheered  him  in  all  the  fiery  ordeals  through  which  he 
was  called  to  pass.  Oh,  the  wondrous  power  of  an  all- 
consuming  love  like  this! — this  passionate  devotion  to 
the  personal  Christ,  transforming  the  life,  developing  the 
nobler  qualities,  stimulating  to  heroic  endeavor,  awaken- 
ing and  nourishing  the  holiest  enthusiasm. 

Were  Christian  life  and  character  in  these  times  thus 
brought  under  the  power  of  Christ*  life  and  example, 
there  would  be  far  less  occasion  for  the  sneering  comment 
of  godless  people,  sometimes  heard,  as  to  the  hollowness 
of  the  Christian  profession,  and  the  insincerity  of  those 
who  make  it.  There  would  be  less  occasion  to  bemoan 
lifeless  prayer-meetings,  or  for  anxious  discussion  as  to 
how  to  get  a  church  to  work,  how  to  awaken  interest  in 
missions,  how  to  increase  benevolent  contributions,  how, 
in  short,  to  stir  up  the  people  to  any  particular  line  of 
Christian  effort.  All  such  questions  would  settle  them- 
selves. Love  would  do  the  work.  It  would  impel  to  a 
vital,  practical,  constant  personal  interest  in  every  form 
of  Christian  service.  The  church  would  become  a  bee- 
hive of  Christian  activity,  the  public  services  would  be 
occasions  of  fresh  inspiration,  the  cause  of  Christ  would 
prosper,  the  kingdom  go  on  from  triumph  to  triumph. 


IX 

POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS    AS    TO    THE    SOURCES 
OF    CHRISTIAN    CONTENTMENT 

Is  it  possible  to  learn  the  lesson  which  the  apostle 
Paul  declared  that  he  had  learned — in  whatsoever  cir- 
cumstances he  was  placed,  to  be  content?  In  noticing 
some  of  the  misconceptions  which  prevail  as  to  the  real 
source  of  contentment,  we  will  dwell  first  upon  the  fact 
of  discontent,  and  then  call  attention  to  the  remedy. 

There  is  a  sense  in  which  discontent,  or,  more 
accurately,  dissatisfaction,  is  both  proper  and  right. 
Sometimes  it  is  a  hopeful  sign,  as  when  one  is  dissatisfied 
with  his  spiritual  condition,  and  longs  for  a  closer  walk 
with  God.  It  is  never  wrong  to  be  dissatisfied  with  one's 
attainments  intellectually,  to  hunger  and  strive  for  a 
larger  knowledge,  a  broader  mental  outlook.  It  is  proper, 
within  due  bounds,  to  seek  to  better  one's  condition  in 
temporal  things,  and,  in  legitimate  ways  and  with  proper 
ends  in  view,  to  labor  to  increase  one's  possessions.  It 
is  right  to  be  dissatisfied — one  ought  to  be — with  a  wrong 
occupation  in  life,  or  with  any  wrong  course,  whatsoever, 
which  one  may  be  pursuing.  There  are  many  respects 
in  which  restlessness,  dissatisfaction,  discontent,  are  not 
only  not  censurable,  but  highly  commendable.  Indeed, 
when  we  think  of  the  deeper  nature,  the  spiritual,  it  is 
hardly  possible,  if  this  be  at  all  alive,  ever  to  rest  satisfied 
with  anything  which  this  world  affords. 

But  the  discontent  which  we  are  now  considering,  and 
for  which  we  are  to  seek  a  remedv,  is  of  an  entirely 
different  character.  It  is  that  uneasy,  restless  state  of 
mind  which  many  cherish  with  reference  to  the  providen- 
tial circumstances  in  which  they  are  placed,  and  which  it 

131 


132  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

is  beyond  their  power  essentially  to  modify;  a  state  of 
mind  which  tends  to  render  both  themselves  and  those 
around  them  miserable,  and  which  dishonors  God. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  how  few  persons  can  really  be 
said  to  be  contented  and  happy !  Other  people  may  think 
them  to  be  so,  or  that  they  ought  to  be  so,  but  that  does 
not  alter  the  fact  of  their  discontent.  If  only  their 
circumstances  were  different  from  what  they  are,  they 
imagine  that  they  would  be  satisfied.  If  only  they  had 
the  wings  of  a  dove  and  could  fly  away  from  where  they 
are,  or  back  to  where  they  once  were,  they  would  be  at 
rest.  If  they  could  only  get  out  of  the  particular  busi- 
ness in  which  they  are  engaged,  which  is  the  most  trying 
of  any  under  the  sun ;  or  if  they  could  only  get  into  some 
other  business,  no  matter  what  it  might  be;  or  if,  instead 
of  living  so  aimlessly,  with  time  hanging  heavily,  all 
outgo,  no  income,  they  could  get  something  to  do;  or 
if  they  could  have  means  to  dress  as  well  as  some  of 
their  acquaintances,  and  to  have  as  nice  things  as  they 
have;  or  if  they  were  only  rich,  not  so  very  rich,  but  well 
enough  off  to  be  comfortable;  or  if  they  could  have  as 
good  oppo  "tunities  socially,  or  educationally,  as  many  of 
their  friends;  or  if  they  could  only  secure  some  coveted 
position  in  public  life,  or  get  back  to  private  life,  or  be 
released  from  responsibility  and  care;  or  if  they  only 
had  a  happy  disposition,  or  could  appear  well,  or  were  fine- 
looking,  or  were  only  relieved  of  some  disfigurement, 
or  were  not  so  large  and  heavy  in  person,  or  were  only 
of  stouter  build,  or  not  so  stout,  or  could  live  in  a  more 
congenial  climate;  or  if  they  had  only  married  differently, 
or  had  not  married  at  all,  or  could  only  get  married,  or 
get  unmarried,  it  is  confidently  believed  that  there  would 
be  perfect  contentment  of  mind;  ambition  would  be 
satisfied,  present  disquietude  be  banished,  and  happiness 
secured. 

This  is  by  no  means  a  fanciful  picture.  Upon  visiting 
a  place  of  former  sojourning,  after  long  absence,  visiting 


CHRISTIAN    CONTENTMENT  133 

friends  of  other  days  and  inquiring  of  them  individually 
as  to  their  prosperity,  I  was  so  struck  with  the  common 
undertone  of  their  answers  as  to  make  a  note  of  it.  On 
stepping  off  the  cars,  the  first  person  met  was  the  driver 
of  an  express-wagon.  He  had  held  the  position  for 
years,  was  always  bright  and  cheery,  always  faithful; 
it  seemed  as  if  he  and  his  work  were  just  suited  to  each 
other.  No  one  would  have  suspected  any  discontent  in 
his  case. 

"Well,  Mike,"  said  I,  "how  is  it  with  you?" 
"Oh,"  he  replied,  "everything  goes  on  well  enough,  I 
suppose,  but  I  often  get  blue.  It 's  nothing  but  work  and 
rush  all  the  time,  from  morning  till  night.  I  wish  I 
could  get  into  something  else,  it  makes  little  difference 
what.  I  can't  feel  contented  to  plod  on  in  this  way  all 

my  life.       If  I  only  had  a  berth  like  Mr.  I  think 

I  would  be  satisfied." 

I  called  on  a  young  man  who  was  doing  a  prosperous 
business  in  a  thriving  Western  city,  now  on  a  visit  to  the 
home  of  his  boyhood.  He  had  been  unusually  successful, 
had  a  fine  home,  a  large  income,  everything  that  a  young 
man  with  business  aspirations  could  wish. 
"How  goes  the  world  with  you,  James  ?" 
"Pretty  well,"  was  the  answer;  "but  sometimes  it  seems 
as  if  the  cares  and  anxieties  of  my  business  would  crush 
me.  I  am  constantly  haunted  by  a  fear  that  something 
may  happen  to  my  family,  or  to  myself,  or  that  real 
estate,  in  which  I  have  large  investments,  may  go  down, 
or  that  competition  may  ruin  my  business.  Then  what 
would  become  of  us  ?  I  often  think  I  '11  get  out  of  it  all, 
buy  me  a  farm,  and  settle  down  to  a  quiet,  restful,  con- 
tented life,  which  I  cannot  say  is  my  condition  now." 

Next  I  met  a  friend  who  had  a  fine  position  in  connec- 
tion with  an  extensive  manufacturing  establishment,  witti 
light  work  and  good  pay.  "Well,"  he  said,  "I  suppose 
every  man  thinks  his  own  lot  in  life  the  hardest,  yet 
sometimes  I  think  that  mine  is  about  the  most  discourag- 


POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

ing  of  all.  I  'm  on  a  salary,  can't  get  ahead,  my  wife  is 
an  invalid  much  of  the  time,  and  it  costs  about  every- 
thing I  can  earn  to  get  along.  If  I  could  only  get  into 
some  paying  business  for  myself,  I  should  feel  a  great 
deal  better,  and  far  more  contented." 

I  inquired  about  the  proprietor  himself,  a  man  envied 
by  many  on  account  of  his  wealth,  his  beautiful  home, 
his  splendid  turnouts,  magnificent  horses,  which  he  took 
pride  in  driving.  To  those  looking  on  from  the  outside, 
it  seemed  that  he  had  everything  that  heart  could  wish, 
everything  to  make  him  contented  and  happy — no  limit 
to  his  money,  apparently,  to  his  command  over  the  good 
things  of  this  life.  "Oh,"  said  my  friend,  "he  is  far  from 
being  a  happy  man.  He  is  restless,  uneasy,  worried,  most 
of  the  time.  Whenever  he  is  ill — and  he  has  had  several 
very  serious  attacks  lately — he  is  afraid  he  is  going  to 
die.  This  fear  seems  constantly  to  rise  before  him,  and 
of  course  to  a  man  of  his  worldly  ways  of  thought  and 
life,  there  can  be  little  to  hope  for  beyond." 

1  next  talked  with  a  physician,  of  large  practice,  success- 
ful, perhaps  the  leading  practitioner  in  town.  I  con- 
gratulated him  upon  his  success.  "Yes,"  he  said,  "that 's 
true — success  in  one  sense — but  there 's  another  side 
to  it  all.  You  don't  know  how  troubled  and  annoyed 
I  am  all  the  time.  One  may  do  the  best  he  can,  and 
people  are  not  satisfied.  In  times  of  sickness  they  lean 
upon  me,  seem  willing  to  do  anything,  to  pay  any- 
thing, if  I  will  only  help  them,  or  save  a  darling  child. 
But  as  soon  as  the  crisis  is  past  and  my  services  are  no 
longer  needed,  they  seem  to  forget  all  about  it,  and 
between  you  and  me  I  have  hard  work  to  collect  out  of 
my  large  practice  even  enough  to  live.  I  am  about  sick 
of  it.  I  wish  I  were  out  of  the  business  and  in  some- 
thing else." 

Another  friend  was  pinched  with  poverty.  Life  had 
seemed  to  go  hard  with  him.  Like  all  the  others,  he 
talked  with  the  freedom  of  former  days.  Said  he,  "I 


CHRISTIAN    CONTENTMENT 


135 


have  never  aspired  to  large  things,  but  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  make  ends  meet  from  year  to  year,  to  feed  and 
clothe  my  large  family.  If  I  only  had  a  home  of  my 
own,  no  rent  to  pay,  a  few  hundred  dollars  ahead,  I  feel 
sure  I  should  be  reasonably  happy."  Another  was  tied 
to  a  farm,  anxious  to  get  away  from  it  and  move  into 
town.  Another  wanted  a  farm  and  to  get  into  the 
country,  but  his  family  were  unwilling  to  make  the 
change. 

Then  there  were  feminine  trials.  One  woman  had 
been  obliged  to  leave  her  husband  to  escape  his  harsh 
treatment.  Another  was  also  ill-mated,  and  always 
obliged  to  go  to  social  gatherings,  or  to  entertainments, 
or  to  church,  alone,  while  her  husband  went  off  down- 
town to  a  clubroom  or  elsewhere.  Another  was  restless 
because  life  with  her  seemed  to  amount  to  so  little, — 
simply  a  round  of  social  duties,  fashionable  calls,  parties, 
discussion  of  the  latest  styles,  with  no  chance  for  read- 
ing, culture,  growth  in  the  higher  nature.  If  she  could 
only  break  away  from  her  present  surroundings,  go  else- 
where, start  anew,  she  could  then  shape  things  to  suit  her 
better. 

There  was  a  great  similarity  in  the  undercurrent  of 
thought  disclosed.  Yet  here  were  just  such  people  as 
we  meet  and  associate  with  every  day — pleasant,  agree- 
able people.  No  one  would  suspect  that  any  unrest  or 
discontent  existed  in  their  cases.  If  the  inner  life  and 
experience  of  people  generally  could  be  known,  if  those 
we  meet  and  mingle  with  daily  were  to  speak  out  as  fully 
and  as  frankly  as  did  these  old  friends  with  me,  would 
we  not  find  pretty  much  the  same  state  of  feeling? 
Experiences  would  be  found  to  vary,  different  things 
would  trouble  and  annoy  different  persons,  aspirations 
would  not  be  the  same,  but  the  proportion  of  those  who 
are  really  restful  and  contented  to  those  who  are  not,  of 
those  who  are  bearing  their  providential  allotments  in 
life  patiently,  without  murmuring,  cheerfully  trying  to 


I36  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

make  the  best  of  circumstances  which  they  cannot  control, 
would  be  surprisingly  small. 

Most  people  think  their  own  cases  exceptional,  that  no 
others  have  equally  good  reasons  for  feeling  discontented; 
their  own  lot  is  peculiarly  hard — considering  all  the  cir- 
cumstances, the  very  hardest  in  the  world.  They 
would  n't  blame  any  one  for  being  miserable  and  wretched 
if  his  condition  were  half  as  bad  as  theirs.  Yet,  if  the 
truth  were  known,  those  whose  supposed  favored  lot  is 
most  envied,  who  are  believed  to  have  the  fewest  causes 
for  discontent,  who  seem  to  be  blessed  with  all  that  could 
be  desired,  as  it  appears  to  those  looking  on  from  without, 
even  these  would  undoubtedly  be  found  to  have  their 
burdens  and  anxieties,  grievous  to  be  borne,  from  which 
they  long  to  escape.  Because  they  cannot  do  so,  they, 
too,  are  uneasy  and  discontented.  They  think  they  have 
reasons  which  fully  justify  their  unrest. 

There  are  some  people  who  are  bound  to  be  discontented 
anyhow.  It  seems  to  be  their  disposition.  Clouds  and 
darkness  are  over  their  heads  alike,  whether  it  rains  or 
shines.  Every  incident  is  an  accident;  every  accident 
is  a  calamity.  Even  when  they  have  their  own  way,  they 
are  dissatisfied,  and  consider  their  own  voluntary  acts  as 
matters  of  compulsion. 

A  striking  illustration  of  this  is  found  in  the  conduct 
of  a  little  child,  a  few  years  old,  who  was  crying  because 
his  mother  had  shut  the  parlor  door.  "Poor  thing/'  said 
a  neighbor,  "you  have  shut  the  child  out."  "It 's  all  the 
same  to  him,"  said  the  mother,  "he  would  cry  if  I  called 
him  in  and  shut  the  door.  It  is  a  peculiarity  of  that  boy, 
that  if  he  is  left  rather  suddenly  on  either  side  of  the 
door  he  considers  himself  shut  out,  and  rebels  accord- 
ingly." There  are  some  other  children  who  seem  to  take 
a  similar  view  of  things.  No  matter  what  occurs,  there 
is  nothing  but  complaint.  They  are  chronic  grumblers. 
Whatever  the  circumstances,  they  are  ingenious  enough 
to  discover  or  to  invent  reasons  for  being  dissatisfied. 


CHRISTIAN    CONTENTMENT  137 

The  fact  of  discontent,  therefore,  may  be  set  down  as 
one  of  the  stubborn  realities  of  human  life.  Some  are 
more  discontented  than  others,  but  discontent  seems  to 
be  the  rule.  It  is  a  sad  state  of  things.  It  is  a  sinful 
state  of  things. 

What,  then,  is  the  remedy  for  it?  What  is  the  secret 
of  a  happy,  contented  life?  Is  it  possible  to  live  and  to 
continue  to  live,  in  a  peaceful,  restful  frame  of  mind,  in 
spite  of  painful  or  unfortunate  surroundings,  in  short, 
to  learn,  with  Paul,  in  whatsoever  state  one  is  providen- 
tially placed,  therein  to  be  content  ?  The  inquiry  is  a  very 
practical  one. 

In  the  instances  mentioned,  the  radical  difficulty  was 
that  the  persons  referred  to  were  living  according  to  an 
entirely  wrong  principle.  Their  idea  was  the  very  com- 
mon but  mistaken  one  that  a  man's  real  life  consists  in 
things — in  the  abundance  of  the  things  which  he 
possesses;  that  peace  of  mind  and  contentment  of  spirit 
are  necessarily  or  primarily  dependent  upon  external 
circumstances  rather  than  upon  a  condition  of  mind  and 
heart,  or  upon  the  possession  of  certain  qualities  of 
character,  or  a  certain  spirit.  The  fallacy  of  this  position 
is  apparent  when  we  remember  that  even  when  such 
people  as  these  attain  the  objects  upon  which  they  have 
set  their  hearts,  and  from  which  they  had  expected  con- 
tentment and  happiness,  they  are  really  no  more  contented 
than  before.  That  which  has  been  so  eagerly  sought  and 
at  length  has  been  attained,  is  found  to  be  far  less  satis- 
factory than  was  anticipated.  With  these  attainments 
new  anxieties  and  cares,  new  wants  and  new  ambitions, 
have  come. 

On  the  other  hand,  instances  are  not  infrequent  of  those 
in  the  humblest  circumstances,  externally,  and  possessing 
the  fewest  possible  advantages  in  this  life,  who  cherish  a 
tranquil,  restful  spirit,  who  are  sincerely  grateful  that 
their  condition  is  so  favorable,  who  are  perfectly  content 
with  the  allotments  of  divine  Providence. 


I38  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

That  incident  is  in  point  here  of  the  poor  widow,  who, 
not  having  sufficient  bedclothes  to  shelter  her  little  boy 
from  the  snow,  which  was  blowing  through  the  cracks 
of  her  miserable  hovel,  was  wont  to  cover  him  up  with 
boards.  One  night,  after  he  had  been  protected  in  this 
way,  he  looked  up  smiling  and  happy,  and  said  to  her, 
"Mamma,  what  do  you  s'pose  poor  folks  do  these  cold 
nights  who  have  n't  any  boards  to  put  over  their  little 
children?" 

The  truth  is — and  it  is  just  here  that  so  many  err — 
the  real  seat  of  contentment  is  within.  It  is  not  in 
external  conditions  primarily,  in  material  possessions,  in 
the  ability  to  gratify  passing  desires  or  whims,  but  rather 
in  one's  state  of  mind  and  heart.  The  source  of  content- 
ment is  inside,  not  outside,  and  is  to  be  realized  in  a  life 
of  mastery  over  circumstances;  in  a  spirit  which  can  rise 
superior  to  external  conditions. 

But  how  is  this  contentment  to  be  attained?  It  is  the 
outcome  of  a  deep,  restful,  trustful  acquiescence  in  the  will 
of  God  concerning  us;  it  is  a  vital,  practical,  intelligent 
faith  in  a  personal,  all-wise,  all-controlling  Father  in 
heaven.  As  one  has  said :  it  is  "a  confiding  trust  in  the 
Sovereign  of  the  world — a  trust  in  his  wisdom,  to  do 
always  that  which  is  best;  a  trust  in  his  holiness,  to  do 
always  that  which  is  right;  a  trust  in  his  love,  to  do 
always  that  which  is  good;  it  is  a  trust,  in  fact,  which 
leads  one  really  to  believe,  and  to  rest  in  the  conviction, 
that  all  things,  even  mistakes,  failures,  disappointments, 
trials,  actually  'work  together  for  good  to  them  that 
love  God'"  (Rom.  8:28).  Long  ago  it  was  dis- 
covered that  the  secret  of  happiness  is  not  in  the  things 
which  we  possess,  but  in  the  spirit  with  which  we  possess 
them.  Long  ago  the  secret  was  given  to  the  world  by 
the  prophet,  in  words  worthy  to  be  written  in  letters 
of  gold,  "Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace,  whose 
mind  is  stayed  on  thee:  because  he  trusteth  in  thee" 
(Isa.  26:3). 


CHRISTIAN   CONTENTMENT  139 

An  abiding  trust  in  God,  let  me  repeat,  in  its  fullest, 
most  rational  significance,  lies  at  the  basis  of  a  contented, 
happy  state  of  mind.  With  this  trust,  contentment  of 
spirit  is  possible  under  the  most  forbidding  external  con- 
ditions. Without  it,  in  the  most  favorable  circumstances 
which  this  world  can  afford,  there  is  no  security  against 
discontent.  Neither  the  possession  of  all  earth's  exhaust- 
less  mines  of  silver  and  gold,  nor  all  the  knowledge  and 
wisdom  which  the  intellect  can  desire,  nor  all  the  pleasure 
that  one  has  capacity  to  enjoy,  can  prevent  its  laying 
hold  upon  us,  and  making  us  wretched.  Some  of  the 
most  discontented  people  the  world  has  known  have  been 
placed  in  the  most  favorable  conditions  in  life,  while  some 
of  the  happiest,  most  tranquil,  peaceful  souls  have  been 
found  among  those  who  seemingly  were  the  most  unfortu- 
nate. 

The  possession  of  a  contented  spirit  by  no  means 
hinders  one  from  making  an  effort  to  better  his  external 
circumstances.  The  feeling  is  that  surroundings,  cir- 
cumstances, conditions  in  life,  are  of  God's  purposing; 
that  one  does  not  come  into  his  place  in  life  by  accident; 
that  where  he  now  is,  God  meant  him  to  be.  Whatever 
befalls  has  a  profound  significance.  If  prosperity  comes, 
it  is  for  a  wise  end.  It  brings  responsibility  and  oppor- 
tunity. If  adversity  is  one's  portion,  it  may  mean  needed 
discipline,  patience,  humility,  or,  if  rightly  received,  it 
may  be  a  test  of  faith,  and  become  a  source  of  spiritual 
enrichment,  and  a  preparation  for  larger  usefulness.  In 
some  way,  in  some  high  sense,  whatever  Providence 
brings  about,  or  does  not  hinder  from  coming  about,  in 
our  lives  is  all  right.  The  trusting  Christian  may  rest  in 
the  assurance  that  whatever  comes  is  for  some  wise  end, 
to  teach  some  needed  lesson,  to  lead  to  a  more  conscious 
dependence  upon  God  and  into  closer  relations  with  him. 
If  this  be  true — and  it  seems  plainly  to  be  the  teaching 
of  Scripture — our  chief  concern  should  be  to  receive  the 
lesson  which  God  would  impress;  to  try  to  extract  from 


140 


POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 


the  circumstances  in  which  we  are  placed  the  blessing 
which  is  wrapped  up  in  them;  at  any  rate,  not  to  miss, 
through  a  rebellious  and  discontented  spirit,  the  rich 
things  spiritually  which  we  may  reap  from  them. 

When  by  the  grace  of  God  one  has  so  risen  above  his 
circumstances  that  he  is  in  a  sense  independent  of  them, 
he  has  reached  a  point  where  contentment  of  mind  is 
possible;  where,  as  in  the  case  of  Paul,  discontent  is 
impossible.  In  reality,  it  is  not  of  so  much  consequence 
where  one  is,  as  what  one  is;  not  how  great  or  how  small 
one's  material  substance,  as  what  is  the  character  of 
one's  spiritual  possessions. 

An  impressive  instance  of  a  trustful  and  contented 
spirit,  under  trying  conditions,  once  came  under  my  ob- 
servation. At  the  close  of  a  preaching  service,  I  was 
introduced  to  a  blind  man.  He  was  fine-looking,  intelli- 
gent, somewhat  past  middle  life,  but  his  eyes  were  sight- 
less. I  talked  with  him,  found  him  cheerful  and  full  of 
Christian  devotion.  "It  was  very  hard  at  first,  and  for  a 
long  time,"  said  he,  "to  feel  reconciled  to  so  great  an 
affliction.  I  was  frequently  rebellious.  But  now,"  he 
continued,  "I  have  come  to  feel  not  only  that  it  is  all  right, 
but  even  to  thank  God  for  the  loss  of  my  sight.  For  now, 
as  a  result  of  it,  my  inner  eyes  have  been  opened,  my  inner 
vision  has  been  greatly  quickened,  and  the  glory  of  God's 
love  disclosed  to  me  as  never  before.  I  would  love  to 
see,  to  see  my  friends,  to  see  you,  but  it  is  all  right  as  it 
is.  I  know  it  to  be  so,  and  I  am  full  of  thankfulness,  con- 
tented and  happy,  under  this  providential  allotment  in 
life."  A  wonderful  testimony  to  the  power  of  the  grace 
of  God,  is  it  not?  A  rebuke,  also,  to  every  one  who  allows 
himself  to  give  way  at  times,  as  most  persons  do,  to  an 
uneasy,  a  discontented  and  rebellious  spirit.  The  in- 
cident deeply  impressed  me,  and  it  is  a  lesson  to  me  every 
time  it  is  recalled. 

Such  testimony  as  this  is  abundantly  confirmed  in  the 
experience  of  Paul,  that  grand  old  hero  of  the  cross,  who 


CHRISTIAN    CONTENTMENT 


penned  the  remarkable  words,  "I  have  learned,  in  whatso- 
ever state  I  am,  therein  to  be  content"  (Phil.  4:11); 
remarkable,  certainly,  when  we  consider  the  circumstances 
in  which  they  were  written,  and  the  facts  of  his  marvelous 
life,  for  they  were  not  written  in  the  heyday  of  prosperity, 
but  when  he  was  confined  in  Nero's  prison,  at  Rome,  in 
which  one  of  his  active,  ardent  temperament  might  well 
be  ill  at  ease.  Indeed,  from  the  very  moment  when  he 
surrendered  his  worldly  prospects  and  took  up  the  service 
of  Christ,  he  was  beset  with  difficulty,  hardship  and 
danger.  If  ever  any  one  had  reason  to  be  dissatisfied 
with  his  lot  in  life,  it  would  seem  as  if  he  were  that  person. 
He  was  persecuted  by  his  own  countrymen;  he  was  often 
obliged  to  fly  for  his  life;  yet  no  word  of  murmuring  or 
of  discontent  escaped  him.  Not  that  he  would  not  have 
appreciated  exemption  from  such  trials,  but  that  he  had 
learned  the  lesson  that  a  man's  real  life  is  within,  and  that 
his  truest  joy  is  to  be  found  in  a  conscious,  personal, 
loving  union  with  the  living,  loving  Christ,  who  has 
appointed  him  to  his  lot,  who  has  promised  never  to  leave 
nor  to  forsake  him,  and  who  never  does. 

With  this  confidence  the  light  afflictions  (he  calls  them 
light)  through  which  he  was  called  to  pass,  were  but  for 
a  moment,  the  prelude  to  something  infinitely  richer, 
grander  and  better,  than  all  the  best  things,  so-called,  of 
this  world.  "Henceforth,"  he  says,  beyond  this  life, 
"there  is  laid  up  for  me  the  crown  of  righteousness"  —  he 
was  certain  of  it  —  "which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge, 
shall  give  to  me  at  that  day"  (2  Tim.  4:8).  And  so, 
whether  it  was  in  Philippi's  dreadful  dungeon,  with  a 
body  lacerated  and  smarting  from  the  strokes  of  the 
scourge;  in  the  Holy  City,  with  a  raging,  howling  mob 
seeking  his  life;  on  the  storm-tossed  vessel  on  his  way  to 
Rome,  liable  at  any  moment  to  be  engulfed;  in  all  these 
experiences,  which  would  ordinarily  blanch  a  man's  cheek 
and  fill  the  soul  with  fear,  he  stood  unmoved,  for  he 
rested,  trustfully,  peacefully,  in  the  will  of  his  God. 


142 


POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 


This  shows  the  value  of  the  prize  which  the  Christian 
religion  is  able  to  bestow — a  trustful,  contented  spirit  in 
the  midst  of  the  most  adverse  external  conditions.  We 
may  not  attain,  in  a  moment,  to  the  contentment  which 
follows  from  unwavering  trust — Paul  did  not — but  we 
may  learn  the  lessons  which  he  did,  if  we  will,  and  thus, 
in  our  experience,  approach  nearer  and  nearer  the  point, 
where,  in  our  lesser  trials,  we  may  calmly  rest  on  God, 
trusting  and  knowing  that  all  is  well.  Sorrow  may 
come,  sickness  and  loss;  tribulation  may  roll  in  upon  the 
soul  like  great  billows,  threatening  to  overwhelm;  dis- 
appointment may  overtake  us  in  our  life-plans ;  our  exter- 
nal circumstances  may  be  anything  but  satisfactory,  and 
death  may  snatch  away  the  friends  we  love,  yet  in  the 
midst  of  all  we  may,  by  the  grace  of  God,  be  able  with 
Paul  to  affirm,  "I  am  content — content  in  whatsoever 
state  I  am."  Even  through  blinding  tears  we  may  be 
able  to  look  up  and  say,  "Thy  will  be  done,"  and  rest  in 
the  sweet  assurance:  "Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect 
peace,  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee :  because  he  trusteth 
in  thee." 

Standing  once  upon  a  mountain  summit,  I  was  able  to 
look  down  upon  the  gathering  clouds,  which  were  shut- 
ting out  the  sunlight  from  the  people  in  the  valley  below, 
and  which  were  soon  to  break  upon  them  in  rain  and 
storm.  All  was  calm  and  serene  where  I  was,  and  the 
heavens  were  bright  above.  As  I  stood  there  meditating, 
the  thought  came  to  me,  How  blessed  a  thing  it  is  to  be 
able  to  live,  as  is  our  privilege,  above  the  clouds  and 
storms  of  this  earthly  life;  calm  and  serene  on  the  heights 
of  faith;  basking  contentedly  in  the  sunshine  of  the  divine 
presence  and  love;  able  triumphantly  to  say,  with  the 
apostle,  "I  have  learned,  in  whatsoever  state  I  am,  therein 
to  be  content" ! 


BOOK  III 
SERVICE 


POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS    AS    TO    THE    DUTY    OF 
PUBLIC   CONFESSION   OF  CHRIST 

It  is  no  doubt  true  that  there  is  a  large  number  of 
Christian  people  outside  the  pale  of  the  visible  church. 
Many  of  these  are  regular  attendants  upon  the  sanctuary, 
are  effective  helpers  in  its  activities,  and  are  liberal  con- 
tributors to  its  support  and  to  all  Christian  benevolences. 
They  seem  to  be  in  full  sympathy  with  Christian  enter- 
prises, and  give  evidence  that  they  are  inwardly  at  one 
with  Christ.  For  some  reason,  they  are  unwilling  to 
identify  themselves  with  his  professed  followers.  They 
seem  to  be  deaf  to  all  appeals  to  connect  themselves  with 
the  church,  even  to  be  unmoved  by  the  fact  that  their 
attitude  is  a  serious  stumbling-block  to  others.  It  has 
come  to  be  recognized  among  pastors  that  it  is  sometimes 
more  difficult  to  prevail  upon  Christian  people  to  unite 
with  the  church,  than  it  is  to  persuade  men  to  accept 
Christ. 

Why  this  reluctance?  Why  is  it  that  so  many  who 
give  evidence  of  being  Christian  at  heart  refrain  from 
performing  a  duty  which,  to  those  who  have  done  so, 
seems  an  obvious  duty? 

The  reasons  which  are  given  for  this  neglect  of  duty 
are  many  and  various.  Some  of  them  deserve  careful 
consideration.  Others  are  merely  excuses.  Sometimes 
timidity  is  set  up  as  the  reason,  a  shrinking  from  the  re- 
sponsibilities which  an  open  confession  of  Christ  is  sup- 
posed to  involve.  More  often,  perhaps,  it  is  the 
outgrowth  of  misconception  as  to  the  nature  and  obliga- 
tion of  public  confession,  particularly  as  to  what  church 
membership  signifies.  It  is  not  that  converts  are  unwill- 


146  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

ing  to  discharge  a  plain  duty,  to  refuse  to  do  which 
would  be  inconsistent  with  cherishing  a  Christian  hope, 
but  that,  owing  to  some  prejudice,  or  to  defective  views, 
it  does  not  present  itself  definitely  to  their  minds  as  a 
duty. 

In  the  interest  of  clearness  and  with  a  view  to  removing 
barriers,  it  may  be  of  advantage  to  call  attention  to  some 
of  these  misconceptions,  and  then  to  set  forth  some 
positive  reasons  why  Christian  people  should  make  open 
confession  of  their  faith  in  Christ  by  uniting  with  the 
church. 

A  prevalent  misconception  is  that  public  confession  of 
Christ  is  in  no  sense  obligatory,  or  at  most  that  it  is  an 
entirely  optional  matter.  Yet  Christ's  language  upon 
this  subject  could  not  be  more  explicit.  "Every  one 
therefore  who  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I  also 
confess  before  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  But  who- 
soever shall  deny  me  before  men,  him  will  I  also  deny 
before  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven''  (Matt.  10:  32,  33). 
These  are  plain  words,  and  their  meaning  is  so  unmistak- 
able that  it  is  in  vain  to  try  to  explain  it  away  or  to  evade 
its  application.  Even  without  the  support  of  other 
passages  of  similar  import,  this  would  seem  to  be  sufficient 
to  make  the  duty  of  public  confession  of  Christ,  in  some 
way,  clear  to  any  one  who  recognizes  Jesus  as  Lord  and 
Master. 

"But,"  some  one  says,  "granting  this,  are  there  not 
other  methods  of  acknowledging  Christ  before  men  than 
by  uniting  with  the  church?"  Doubtless;  and  the  obli- 
gation is  upon  every  loyal  disciple  to  employ  these 
methods  wherever  practicable.  But  why  single  out  for 
rejection  the  one  method  which,  since  Christ's  time,  has 
been  the  recognized  method  of  formally  acknowledging 
him,  one  which  he  has  signally  blessed,  and  which  the 
world  recognizes  as  an  obligation  resting  upon  all 
Christian  disciples?  Christ  founded  the  Church  to  be 
the  chief  instrumentality  for  carrying  forward  his  cause 


PUBLIC    CONFESSION    OF    CHRIST 


and  kingdom.  It  is  the  only  institution  which  he  did 
found.  In  spite  of  imperfections  and  mistakes,  it  has 
been  doing  this  through  the  centuries,  and  it  is  the  main 
aggressive  force  of  Christianity  among  men  to-day. 
Furthermore,  Christ  established  certain  ordinances  whose 
observance  was  enjoined  upon  his  disciples,  and  these 
ordinances  are  ordinarily  observed  only  in  connection 
with  his  Church.  So  that  even  in  the  absence  of  specific 
command  the  duty  of  Christian  people  to  identify  them- 
selves with  the  church  would  seem  to  be  clearly  implied* 

Another  misconception  relates  to  the  intellectual  quali- 
fications necessary  for  admission  to  the  church.  It  is 
supposed  by  some  persons  that  a  certain  amount  of  knowl- 
edge of  the  Scriptures,  or  of  the  great  doctrines  contained 
therein,  is  required  as  a  condition  of  church  membership, 
and  that  in  taking  the  step,  one  assumes  to  possess  such 
knowledge. 

Not  at  all.  One  may  have  only  a  very  general  under- 
standing of  the  aims  of  the  church,  only  an  imperfect 
acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures  or  with  their  teachings, 
or  even  with  the  creed  of  the  church,  and  yet  be  qualified 
for  church  membership.  In  an  important  sense,  one 
comes  to  the  church  as  a  learner,  and  with  the  right  spirit 
he  can  discover  the  meaning  of  spiritual  truth  far  better 
within  the  church  than  outside  of  it.  While  it  is  as- 
sumed, as  a  rule,  that  a  candidate  for  church  membership 
is  not  without  some  conception  of  what  the  church  be- 
lieves, in  reality  the  question  of  intellectual  proficiency  is 
not  considered.  There  is  no  such  thing  in  distinctively 
Protestant  churches  as  an  educational  test  for  church 
membership.  Its  conditions  relate  rather  to  character  and 
purpose. 

Another  misconception  is  to  the  effect  that  in  order  to 
unite  with  the  church  one  must  first  attain  to  a  certain 
standard  of  goodness.  In  other  words,  that  there  is  a 
moral  goodness  test  for  those  who  desire  to  come  into  the 
church. 


148  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

It  is  not  so.  One  by  no  means  assumes  to  be  perfect, 
or  to  be  one  whit  better,  necessarily,  than  many  others 
who  have  not  publicly  confessed  Christ.  The  assump- 
tion, on  the  contrary,  is  just  the  reverse.  It  is  that  one 
may  become  better  that  one  should  avail  himself  of  the 
help  which  church  membership  affords.  The  question 
is  not  what  one  has  attained  in  the  way  of  moral  ex- 
cellence; it  is  rather  whether  his  purpose  is  fixed  to  do 
God's  will.  He  may  not  be  much  of  a  saint  when  he 
makes  his  confession,  he  may  not  be  free  from  incon- 
sistencies of  conduct  after  he  has  made  it.  Many  of  his 
besetting  sins  may  still  remain.  But  if  he  is  truly 
converted,  if  his  face  is  really  turned  heavenward,  he  is 
a  suitable  candidate  for  church  membership.  Union  with 
the  church  is  what  one  needs  to  help  him  to  overcome 
himself  and  to  develop  Christian  graces  of  character.  It 
furnishes  assistance  with  which  one  cannot  afford  to 
dispense. 

Other  misconceptions  are  such  as  these:  that  it  is 
expected  that  one  will  be  free  from  mistakes  and  sins  after 
uniting  with  the  church;  that  he  will  have  no  further 
seasons  of  discouragement  or  doubt;  that  he  will  be  ex- 
pected to  engage  in  the  same  Christian  activities  and  to 
employ  precisely  the  same  methods  as  other  and  more 
experienced  church-members. 

But  these  objections  have  no  valid  grounds  on  which  to 
rest.  One  will  probably  stumble  and  fall  from  time  to 
time  after,  as  well  as  before  uniting  with  the  church. 
Church  membership  does  not  insure  against  that,  although 
one  is  less  liable  to  do  so,  in  view  of  the  restraints  and 
incentives  which  are  brought  to  bear  upon  him  as  an 
openly  confessed  follower  of  Christ.  Nor  is  it  implied 
that  one  will  not  have  ups  and  downs  of  experience.  The 
mere  fact  of  church  membership  will  not  free  one  from  the 
infirmities  of  the  flesh.  The  prevailing  influence  of  the 
church  will,  however,  tend  to  promote  a  hopeful  and 
courageous  spirit.  Nor  does  one  endorse  the  church  in 


PUBLIC    CONFESSION    OF    CHRIST 

all  its  action,  as  some  suppose,  by  uniting  with  it,  or 
endorse  all  the  individual  members  of  it,  any  more  than 
he  endorses  any  other  organization  with  which  he  sees 
fit  to  connect  himself.  The  church  is  not  infallible,  never 
has  been,  never  will  be,  nor  has  it  been  free  from  unworthy 
members  or  from  cranks.  It  is  made  up  of  imperfect 
people,  which  is  the  only  kind  of  people  available  for  this 
or  for  any  other  organization  in  this  world.  Nor  is  it 
implied  that  all  who  unite  with  the  church  will  be  alike 
active,  or  engage  in  Christian  work  in  precisely  the  same 
way.  This  is  not  the  case  in  any  other  sphere  in  life. 
One  by  no  means  loses  his  individuality  by  uniting  with 
the  church.  There  is  a  place  and  a  work  for  every  be- 
liever, whatever  his  peculiar  talent. 

What,  then,  is  the  true  significance  of  uniting  with  the 
church?  Simply  this:  that  one  honestly  proposes  to 
turn  his  back  upon  a  sinful  life,  and  to  strive,  with 
divine  help,  to  live  a  Christian  life,  and  that  he  makes 
formal  announcement  to  the  world  of  this  fact  by  publicly 
confessing  Christ.  It  means  that  one  acknowledges 
Jesus  Christ  to  be  his  Lord  and  Saviour,  and  that  it  is 
his  purpose  henceforth  to  be  loyal  and  obedient  to  him. 
He  pledges  himself  to  this  purpose,  however,  in  full  view 
of  his  own  weakness,  and  with  distrust  of  himself,  but 
with  full  confidence  in  that  almighty  grace  upon  which 
he  depends  to  carry  it  out.  He  promises  to  do  the  best 
he  can,  with  divine  aid.  This  is  all  that  he  promises,  all 
that  any  one  can  promise.  Thus,  he  does  not  profess  or 
promise  to  be  sinless,  or  to  do  any  impossible  or  unreason- 
able thing.  He  makes  a  public  announcement  to  men, 
friends,  acquaintances,  everybody,  of  his  position  on  the 
question  of  his  relationship  with  God.  It  means  that 
he  recognizes  the  obligation,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
privilege,  of  joining  himself  with  others  who  have 
similar  aims,  for  sympathy  and  help  and  for  the 
sake  of  rendering  more  effective  Christian  service; 


POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 


he  does  this  because  it  is  the  method,  sanctioned 
by  long  usage,  as  well  as  implied  in  the  direct 
commands  of  Christ,  of  confessing  him  before  men. 
Henceforth  his  sympathies  and  his  interests  are  to  be 
identified  with  Christian  people.  He  proposes  to  act 
with  them,  and  through  union  with  them  to  make  his 
influence  more  effective  for  Christ  and  for  righteousness. 
This  is  what  is  involved  in  taking  a  public  stand  for 
Christ  in  connection  with  the  church.  It  does  not  in- 
sure salvation  —  there  is  no  warrant  for  any  such  as- 
sumption. Salvation  itself  comes  only  through  faith  in 
Christ.  The  church  is  designed  to  nourish  and  promote 
the  Christian  life  of  believers,  but  of  itself  it  does  not  save 
one.  Church  membership  is  simply  one  of  the  duties 
incumbent  upon  such  as  have  entered  upon  the  new  life. 

Having  seen  what  is  meant  by  uniting  with  the  church, 
how  simple  and  natural  a  thing  it  is  for  the  Christian  to 
do,  we  notice  next  some  of  the  reasons  which  are  often 
urged  against  taking  the  step. 

Some  shrink  from  uniting  with  the  church  because  they 
regard  themselves  as  unworthy,  or  because  they  fear  that 
they  might  bring  reproach  upon  it.  But  the  existence 
of  such  a  feeling,  honestly  cherished,  is  one  of  the  best 
indications  that  one  is  fitted  for  church  membership. 
Yet,  while  the  feeling  itself  is  commendable,  it  is  not, 
of  itself,  a  sufficient  reason  why  one  should  remain  out- 
side the  visible  body  of  believers.  It  is  quite  true  that  no 
one  is  worthy  the  honor  of  bearing  Christ's  name,  yet  this 
privilege  is  freely  accorded  to  all  who  are  striving  to  live 
the  Christian  life.  Those,  indeed,  who  feel  themselves 
least  worthy  are  quite  likely  to  be  the  most  worthy. 

The  objection  that  one  is  not  good  enough  assumes 
that  there  is  a  moral  goodness  test  for  church  membership, 
which,  as  we  have  shown,  is  a  misconception  of  what 
church  membership  is.  If  one  were  without  fault,  were 
free  from  sin,  were  perfect,  there  would  be  no  need  of 


PUBLIC    CONFESSION    OF    CHRIST 


confessing  Christ,  no  need  of  Christ's  life  and  sufferings 
and  death.  It  is  because  no  one  is  good  enough  that 
Christ  bids  us  be  his  disciples.  He  came  not  to  call  the 
righteous,  but  sinners,  to  repentance.  And  it  is  because 
we  are  not  as  good  as  we  ought  to  be,  even  when  we  have 
become  his  disciples,  that  we  need  the  help  and  incentives 
of  the  church  in  order  to  become  better.  Many  have 
tried  the  experiment  of  waiting  until  they  should  become 
"good  enough"  before  uniting  with  the  church,  only  to 
learn  the  folly  of  so  doing.  By  the  common  testimony 
of  all  such,  this  is  a  great  and  a  serious  mistake.  Nor 
is  it,  in  fact,  perfect  or  self-satisfied  people  whom  Christ 
wants  in  his  Church;  those  rather  who  have  a  deep  sense 
of  their  own  imperfection,  and  who  desire  to  avail  them- 
selves of  all  possible  helps  to  become  more  Christlike. 

Nor  need  one  delay  becoming  a  church-member  from  a 
fear  that  by  so  doing  he  may  bring  reproach  upon  the 
church  and  cause.  No  one  who  is  seeking  sincerely  to 
do  his  duty  as  a  Christian  need  entertain  such  a  fear.  It 
is  not  such  as  these  who  discredit  the  church;  it  is  those, 
rather,  who  are  careless  as  to  their  duty.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  one  can  do  more  to  discredit  a  church  before  the 
world  by  refusing  to  unite  with  it,  than  he  is  likely  to  do 
as  a  faithful  member  of  it. 

Some,  again,  before  uniting  with  a  church,  would  wait 
to  see  whether  they  are  likely  to  hold  out  in  the  Christian 
life.  Such  persons  overlook  the  fact  that  church  mem- 
bership is  one  of  the  divinely  appointed  means  of  helping 
one  to  persevere  in  the  divine  life.  Suppose,  as  one  says, 
a  new-born  lamb,  out  in  the  icy  sleet  at  nightfall,  should 
refuse  to  be  carried  into  the  barn  and  be  cared  for,  on  the 
ground  that  it  might  be  better  to  wait  and  see  whether 
it  were  going  to  hold  out  through  the  night!  Equally 
unreasonable  is  it  for  one  newly  born  into  the  kingdom  to 
wait  and  see  whether  he  can  hold  out  against  the  dangers 
of  the  world,  or  become  toughened  by  exposure  to  its 
perils,  before  coming  into  the  church.  Through  such 


POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 


exposure  many  have  become  spiritually  dead.  Instead 
of  becoming  toughened  against  the  forces  of  evil,  they 
have  usually  become  hardened  against  spiritual  influences. 

Then,  again,  how  long  a  time  is  necessary  in  order  to 
determine  the  question  as  to  whether  one  is  to  hold  out 
or  not?  six  months?  one  year?  two  years?  Who  ever 
heard  of  any  one  feeling  better  satisfied  with  himself  on 
this  point,  no  matter  how  long  he  .had  tested  himself? 
The  probability  of  ''holding  out"  in  the  Christian  course 
is  certainly  much  greater  when  one  surrounds  himself 
with  the  encouragements  and  incentives  to  holiness  and 
the  restraints  from  evil  which  the  church  affords  than 
when  one  does  not  avail  himself  of  these  helpful 
influences. 

Others,  still,  are  not  entirely  satisfied  that  they  are 
Christians,  because  they  cannot  point  to  the  exact  moment 
when  the  transition  from  the  old  to  the  new  life  took  place, 
and  hold  back  from  uniting  with  the  church  for  this 
reason.  It  is  not  probable  that  one  half  of  those  who  are 
Christians  or  church  members  can  do  this.  Tests  have 
been  made  which  demonstrate  the  fact  that  at  least  half 
of  those  whom  we  know  as  Christians  cannot  tell  the 
precise  moment  when  they  became  Christians. 

The  vital  question  is  not  as  to  the  time,  or  manner,  or 
the  attending  circumstances  of  entering  upon  the 
Christian  life;  it  is  rather  as  to  whether  the  transition 
from  the  old  to  the  new  life  has  really  taken  place,  whether 
one  is  or  is  not  a  Christian.  It  might  be  a  satisfaction 
to  be  able  to  point  to  the  exact  moment  of  one's  conver- 
sion, but  this  is  a  matter  of  minor  consequence.  If  one 
born  blind  is  now  able  to  see,  he  ought  to  be  willing  to 
say  so. 

Others,  again,  do  not  unite  with  the  church  because 
they  are  unwilling  to  relinquish  certain  questionable  lines 
of  conduct,  which  they  suppose  or  believe  to  be  incon- 
sistent with  a  public  confession  of  Christ.  But  if  that 
which  holds  them  back  is  inconsistent  with  the  cherishing 


PUBLIC    CONFESSION    OF    CPIRIST 


153 


of  a  Christian  hope  inside  the  church,  why  is  it  not  equally 
inconsistent  with  cherishing  a  Christian  hope  outside  the 
church?  Wherein  does  the  fact  of  not  being  a  church- 
member  relieve  one  of  responsibility  ?  The  obligation  of 
public  confession  rests  upon  a  Christian  just  the  same, 
whether  he  recognizes  and  meets  it  or  not.  The  mere 
fact  of  remaining  outside  the  church  by  no  means  frees 
one  from  responsibility.  Whether  within  or  without  the 
church,  men  are  bound  to  obey  every  command  of  Christ. 

The  truth  is,  the  fear  that  one's  liberties  would  be 
abridged  or  some  of  one's  enjoyments  be  cut  off  if  one 
were  to  unite  with  the  church  is  hardly  a  worthy  reason 
for  one  who  really  cherishes  a  hope  that  he  is  a  Christian 
disciple.  No  doubt  there  are  multitudes  who  would  be  in 
the  Christian  Church  to-day  if  it  were  not  for  a  secret  fear 
that  some  of  their  practices,  which  they  are  not  entirely 
satisfied  are  consistent  with  a  Christian  profession,  would 
have  to  be  surrendered.  They  want  to  be  Christians, 
but  they  want  to  retain  some  of  their  worldly  privileges. 
They  are  not  quite  ready  to  surrender  everything  to 
Christ.  If  one  has  really  surrendered  himself  to  Christ, 
he  will  be  ready  and  willing  to  abandon  everything  which 
his  conscience  disapproves.  Where  questions  of  duty  are 
not  entirely  clear,  one  must  exercise  his  best  judgment 
and  pray  for  God's  blessing  upon  his  conclusion.  If  he 
has  not  surrendered  all,  but  is  deliberately  holding  back  a 
part  of  the  price,  what  reason  has  he  for  cherishing  any 
hope  in  Christ  ?  The  only  consistent  course  for  one  who 
is  a  Christian  to  pursue  is  to  take  his  place  with  the  people 
of  God. 

Others  tell  us  that  they  can  live  the  Christian  life  just 
as  well  without  uniting  with  the  church.  How  do  they 
know  this?  The  uniform  testimony  of  those  who  have 
joined  the  church  and  who  alone  are  competent  to  give 
testimony  on  this  point,  disproves  the  assertion.  They 
declare  that  their  experience  teaches  them  that  it  is  far 
harder  to  lead  a  Christian  life  outside  the  church  than  as 


154 


POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 


a  member  of  it.  Many  who  have  attempted  to  do  this 
have  failed,  and  the  world  has  not  known  that  they  ever 
indulged  a  Christian  hope.  It  would  be  too  much  to  say 
that  we  cannot,  in  any  circumstances,  live  a  Christian  life 
outside  the  church,  but  one  certainly  cannot  do  it  as  well, 
to  say  nothing  of  Christ's  definite  injunction  in  regard 
to  open  confession.  One  has  not  the  same  stimulus,  help, 
or  restraint,  outside  the  church  which  he  has  as  one  of 
its  members.  Furthermore,  he  is  defrauding  the  church 
and  the  cause  of  the  influences  which  result  from  taking 
a  positive  position  before  the  world.  The  probability  in 
most  cases  is  that,  by  remaining  outside  the  church,  one's 
Christian  hope  will  gradually  fade  and  die.  There  is 
something  in  the  mere  fact  of  church  membership  which 
is  calculated  to  awaken  and  sustain  a  deeper  interest  in 
the  Christian  life  and  Christian  work. 

Another  reason  often  urged  against  uniting  with  the 
church,  is  the  fact  of  the  inconsistencies,  the  faults,  the 
hypocrisies,  even,  of  certain  church-members. 

But  how  does  the  fact  that  here  and  there  one  in  the 
church  may  be  unworthy  relieve  another  of  the  obligation 
of  confessing  Christ?  Is  the  fact  that  some  men  who 
have  professed  themselves  to  be  honest  have  turned  out 
to  be  knaves  any  reason  why  others  should  refuse  to  be 
honest,  or  to  profess  their  honest  intentions  ?  .  Is  the 
existence  of  a  Benedict  Arnold  any  reason  that  we  should 
refuse  to  profess  our  loyalty  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States?  Is  the  fact  that  some  dishonor  their 
Christian  profession  a  good  and  sufficient  reason  why 
others  should  decline  to  make  such  a  profession?  How 
could  any  one,  upon  this  principle,  consistently  identify 
himself  with  any  political  party?  There  is  occasionally 
a  bad  Republican,  and  sometimes  a  bad  Democrat.  Such 
instances  are  not  altogether  unknown.  Or  how  can  one 
consistently  belong  to  a  lodge?  Not  all  of  its  members 
are  saints,  yet  who  ever  raises  objection  to  membership  in 
it  on  such  grounds  as  these?  The  truth  is,  this  last 


PUBLIC    CONFESSION    OF    CHRIST 


objection  is  one  of  the  most  unreasonable  and  least  worthy 
of  the  objections  which  are  urged  against  uniting  with 
the  church.  It  is  a  flimsy  excuse,  and  nothing  more. 
It  is  unfortunate  that  some  church-members  do  not  live  up 
to  their  obligations.  It  is  impossible  perfectly  to  guard 
against  making  mistakes  in  receiving  members  into  the 
church.  Yet  the  duty  of  public  confession  of  Christ  on 
the  part  of  Christian  people  exists  independently  of  the 
fact  that  some  fail  in  meeting  their  obligations  to  him. 
Other  men's  failures  will  not  save  us,  or  in  the  least  excuse 
us  from  doing  what  is  clearly  our  duty. 

Another  reason  often  urged  by  Christian  women  for 
not  at  once  uniting  with  the  church,  is  something  like 
this:  "I  want  to  wait  for  my  husband.  It  would  be 
so  much  more  pleasant  for  us  both  to  join  at  the  same 
time,  and,  besides,  I  am  afraid  that  if  I  should  join 
without  him,  he  never  would  take  the  step.  I  can't  bear 
to  be  separated  from  him."  This  all  sounds  very  nice 
and  plausible,  but  the  facts  of  experience  do  not  justify 
the  position  taken  in  this  objection. 

What  ground  is  there  for  supposing  that  the  husband 
is  becoming  any  nearer  ready  to  take  the  step  because 
his  wife  remains  outside  the  church,  or  that  he 
is  any  nearer  a  Christian  life  now  than  he  was  two,  five, 
ten  years  ago?  Is  it  not  quite  probable  that  he  is  even 
less  and  less  inclined  to  it?  Example  is  the  strongest 
kind  of  an  argument  in  such  a  case,  and  for  the  wife  to 
continue  outside  the  church  is  often  but  to  confirm  the 
husband  in  an  irreligious  life.  A  prompt  performance 
of  her  own  duty  might  have  exerted  a  far  more  whole- 
some influence  upon  him.  Furthermore,  how  can  one 
justify  himself  in  neglecting  duty  because  some  one  else 
neglects  it?  Each  one  must  give  account  for  himself 
before  God.  Very  often  believing  wives  have  waited 
long  and  weary  years  for  their  husbands  to  be  converted, 
depriving  themselves,  meanwhile,  of  the  comforts  and 
helps  and  the  blessedness  which  the  church  is  designed 


I56  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

to  afford,  to  say  nothing  of  depriving  the  church  all  this 
time  of  the  influence  which  a  positive,  open  confession 
would  have  given  it.  Then,  after  all  this  waiting,  the 
husband,  as  a  rule,  has  not  become  a  Christian.  As  for 
the  separation  from  which  loving  wives  shrink,  a  great 
gulf  already  exists  between  them  and  their  husbands. 
That  which  is  of  deepest  moment  to  one  is  a  matter  of 
indifference,  or  largely  so,  with  the  other.  For  a 
Christian  woman  to  unite  with  the  church  is  merely  to 
give  expression  to  a  fact  that  already  exists.  It  by  no 
means  creates  the  separation  between  herself  and  her  hus- 
band. Every  Christian  ought  to  do  his  duty  regardless 
of  the  fact  that  some  one  else  refuses  to  do  his  duty. 

Another  person  thinks  that  he  cannot  subscribe  to  all 
that  is  contained  in  the  confession  of  faith  of  the  church. 
In  very  few  of  our  churches  is  one  asked  to  subscribe  to 
or  to  believe  anything  which  is  not  taught  in  the  Word  of 
God.  A  confession  or  creed  is  merely  a  human  attempt 
to  summarize  the  fundamental  teachings  of  Scripture. 
It  may  be  very  imperfect,  but  it  represents  what  those 
who  profess  it  believe  to  be  the  main  teachings 
of  the  Bible,  which  is  the  only  authority  in  matters  of 
faith  and  practice. 

But,  important  as  right  views  are,  a  right  life  is  more 
important.  The  conditions  of  acceptance  with  Christ, 
which  he  himself  lays  down,  are  repentance  of  sin  and 
faith  in  himself.  When  one  presents  himself  for  admis- 
sion to  the  church,  gives  satisfactory  evidence  of  a  peni- 
tent, believing,  teachable  spirit,  and  makes  it  clear  that  it 
is  his  purpose  sincerely  and  faithfully  to  obey  God,  and 
with  his  help  serve  him,  we  have  no  right  to  exclude  him 
from  Christian  fellowship  or  from  fellowship  in  a  particu- 
lar church,  unless  his  doctrinal  views  are  so  far  at  variance 
with  the  generally  accepted  teachings  of  the  church  as 
would  tend  to  promote  discord  and  disturbance,  rather 
than  harmony  and  peace.  Sometimes  men's  hearts  are 
more  orthodox  than  their  heads. 


PUBLIC    CONFESSION    OF    CHRIST 

Another  person  says,  'There's  no  church  of  my  de- 
nominational preference  near  at  hand."  Well,  granting 
that  to  be  the  case,  is  that  a  sufficient  reason  for  not 
identifying  oneself  with  that  Christian  church  which  is 
nearest  at  hand,  at  least  for  the  time  being?  Christ  is 
higher  than  denominationalism.  The  Church  universal  is 
larger  than  any  one  branch  of  it.  Of  course  if  one  feels 
that  he  would  be  safe  only  in  his  own  particular  church, 
that  is  one  thing.  Such  a  one  needs  to  be  educated  to 
a  larger  view  of  the  truth.  All  the  leading  evangelical 
denominations  are  essentially  agreed  in  matters  of  doc- 
trine. They  differ  on  minor  points,  but  upon  the  funda- 
mentals they  are  not  far  apart.  The  main  differences 
between  them  relate  to  methods  of  church  government, 
relatively  of  small  moment.  If  one  is  not  so  situated  as 
conveniently  to  attend  or  to  join  the  church  of  his  choice, 
the  sensible  course  to  pursue  would  seem  to  be  to  cast  in 
his  lot  with  that  Christian  church  near  by,  which  is  will- 
ing to  receive  him.  One  needs  a  church  home,  and  he 
ought  to  identify  himself  with  the  Christian  people  where 
he  is,  and  to  make  his  influence  felt  for  good  in  his  own 
neighborhood.  His  influence  is  not  likely  to  count  for 
much  if  he  acts  independently.  Our  Lord  is  not 
seriously  concerned  as  to  what  particular  branch  of  his 
Church  one  may  join,  providing  it  be  one  which  is  loyal 
to  him,  and  one  in  which  his  disciple  can  feel  at  home, 
and  unite  heartily  with  its  members  in  Christian  service. 

If  we  carry  our  devotion  to  our  church  so  far  that  we 
cannot  affiliate  with  any  other  church  or  denomination, 
or  regard  that  other  with  any  degree  of  allowance,  we 
are  in  danger  of  worshiping  that  church  more  than  its 
Head.  This  is  idolatry.  Any  church  of  Christ,  where 
one  is  made  welcome,  and  wherein  he  can  feel  at  home,  is 
good  enough  for  any  Christian  who  cannot,  for  any 
reason,  connect  himself  with  a  church  of  his  own  particu- 
lar preference. 

Others,  again,  have  a  secret  feeling  that  it  would  in 


!58  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

some  way  be  a  confession  of  weakness  to  come  out  openly 
for  Christ.  The  very  fact  of  cherishing  such  a  reason 
is  in  itself  a  confession  of  weakness;  while  in  reality  to 
stand  up  publicly  for  Christ  is  one  of  the  most  manly  or 
womanly  things  which  one  can  possibly  do. 

Some  persons  hold  back,  or  hold  their  children  back 
from  the  church  on  the  ground  that  they  are  not  old 
enough.  Does  the  church  exist  only  for  full-grown,  well- 
matured  believers  ?  Must  one  be  a  man  or  woman  grown 
before  entering  the  nursery?  Is  not  the  nursery  for 
babes?  In  an  important  sense,  the  church  is  a  nursery, 
and  we  are  all  children  in  it.  The  question  is  not  pri- 
marily how  old  or  how  strong  one  is,  but  whether  he 
loves  Christ,  and  the  weaker  he  is,  the  more  the  comfort 
and  the  training  of  the  church  are  needed.  Any  one 
who  is  old  enough  to  love  Christ  intelligently,  and  to 
give  reasonable  evidence  that  he  is  seeking  conscientiously 
to  obey  him,  especially  if  the  home  influences  about  him 
are  helpful,  is  old  enough  to  become  a  member  of  the 
church.  Sometimes  parents  discourage  their  children 
from  making  a  public  confession  of  their  love  for  Christ, 
and  they  reach  the  age  of  twelve,  fourteen,  sixteen,  even 
eighteen  and  twenty  years,  before  they  are  willing  to 
have  them  do  so.  This  is  a  serious  responsibility  for 
parents  to  assume.  If  children  are  not  allowed  to  take 
the  step  when  they  incline  strongly  to  do  so,  they  may 
never  again  feel  interested  to  the  same  degree. 

Another  person  says,  "I  want  more  time  to  think  about 
it."  Is  not  this  a  mistaken  idea?  The  subject  is  not 
altogether  new.  The  objector  has  not  been  taken  by  sur- 
prise. He  has  thought  about  it  long,  and  he  knew,  years 
ago,  perhaps,  as  well  as  any  of  us  do  now,  that  it  was 
his  duty  to  make  open  confession  of  Christ.  Yet  how 
much  nearer  is  he  to  the  performance  of  that  duty  now 
than  then?  No,  it  is  not  more  time  to  think  about  it 
that  is  needed;  it  is  more  resolution  to  do  what  one  has 
long  known  it  to  be  one's  duty  to  do. 


PUBLIC    CONFESSION    OF    CHRIST 

These  and  similar  reasons  are  urged  against  making 
public  confession  of  Christ  in  connection  with  his  Church. 
The  mind  is  exceedingly  fertile  in  originating  objections 
against  doing  a  thing  which  one  really  does  not  want  to 
do.  Some  of  these  reasons  are  seriously  urged,  and  are 
to  be  met  in  corresponding  spirit;  others  are  mere  excuses. 
The  latter  are  swept  away  when  one  has  the  right  spirit, 
just  as  all  one's  excuses  for  not  being  a  Christian  are 
swept  away  in  a  moment,  wrhen  he  comes  to  cherish  the 
right  spirit. 

What,  then,  are  some  of  the  positive  reasons  why 
Christian  people  should  unite  with  the  church  ? 

I.  It  is  the  only  natural  and  consistent  course  for  a 
Christian  to  pursue,  or  for  one  who  cherishes  a  hope  that 
he  is  a  Christian. 

Here  is  God's  Church  in  the  world.  Christ  himself 
established  it.  It  is  an  organization  made  up  of  those 
who  acknowledge  him,  and  is  expressly  designed  both  to 
promote  their  spiritual  benefit  and  to  render  their  influ- 
ence for  his  cause  the  more  effective.  It  is  the  one 
recognized  organization  which  is  doing  this.  Member- 
ship in  it  for  ages  has  been  the  recognized  method  of 
making  formal  confession  of  faith  in  Christ.  The  fact 
that  there  are  various  divisions  in  the  Church  universal, 
which  are  known  by  different  names,  makes  no  particular 
difference.  All  are  alike  to  be  entered  by  baptism  as 
the  outward  form  of  admission,  and  Christ  coupled 
baptism  with  believing  in  a  manner  which  forbids  its 
being  regarded  as  optional.  Similarly,  in  regard  to  the 
Lord's  Supper,  another  ordinance  which  Christ  insti- 
tuted. Usually  this  ordinance  has  been  observed  in  con- 
nection with  his  Church,  and,  like  baptism,  it  ought  not  to 
be  dispensed  with  when  its  observance  is  possible. 

These  considerations  would  seem  to  show  that  the 
natural,  the  consistent  course  for  one  who  cherishes  a 
Christian  hope  is  at  once  to  take  his  place  with  professing 


!6o  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

Christian  people  in  the  church.  Otherwise  his  position 
is  sure  to  be  misinterpreted.  Only  in  this  way  is  he 
counted  where  he  belongs.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
world  identifies  Christians  with  church-members,  and  it 
is  expected  that  those  who  are  truly  Christian  will  make 
public  announcement  of  their  faith.  If  they  do  not  do 
this,  but  still  live  blamelessly  before  men,  what  is  to 
hinder  their  being  classed  with  other  men  of  good 
character,  moral  men,  who  make  no  pretension  whatever 
to  faith  in  Christ,  who  may  even  be  hostile  to  the  Christian 
religion?  Irreligion  gets  the  credit  of  Christian  graces, 
and  the  cause  of  Christ  is  defrauded  of  that  which  is  its 
rightful  due,  is  wounded  in  the  home  of  its  friends. 
Frequently  it  is  said  of  such  people  as  these :  "They  are 
as  good  as  any  of  your  Christians."  So  one's  position  is 
misinterpreted,  and  one's  Christian  influence  goes  pretty 
nearly  for  nothing.  The  truth  is,  Christians  who  ought 
to  be  in  the  church,  but  who  refuse  to  unite  with  it,  do 
about  as  much  harm  by  their  unnatural  attitude  as  do 
those  professing  Christians  whose  character  and  conduct 
show  that  they  ought  not  to  be  in  the  church. 

There  can  be  no  question,  then,  that  to  join  some  visible 
branch  of  the  Christian  Church  is  the  duty  of  every  real 
follower  of  Christ,  unless  his  circumstances  are  so 
peculiarly  exceptional — a  rare  possibility — that  it  would 
be  manifestly  impracticable.  In  the  early  times  of  Chris- 
tianity, so  solemn  a  duty  was  it  regarded  that  no 
reproaches  of  the  world  or  tyranny  of  government  could 
deter  Christian  believers  from  open  avowal  of  their  faith, 
although  in  a  multitude  of  instances  it  was  followed  by 
persecution  and  death.  There  is  certainly  no  reason  to 
suppose  it  to  be  less  a  duty  now,  in  an  age  when  so  little 
sacrifice  and  no  perils  whatever  are  involved. 

2.  A  second  reason  for  uniting  with  the  church  is 
because  a  Christian  needs  its  helps  and  incentives  for  his 
own  spiritual  welfare. 

The  ruling  purpose  of  the  Christian,  in  so  far  as  his 


PUBLIC    CONFESSION    OF    CHRIST 

own  life  and  character  are  concerned,  is  to  grow  in  holi- 
ness, to  make  progress  in  grace,  to  advance  toward  the 
symmetry  of  a  developed  spiritual  character — in  short, 
to  become  more  Christlike  in  every  respect.  For  a 
Christian  to  be  without  such  aspiration  and  purpose 
would  be  a  contradiction  of  terms,  as  it  would  also  be 
not  to  utilize  all  available  helps  to  that  end. 

One  of  the  objects  of  a  church  is  to  promote  the 
spiritual  development  of  its  members.  No  other  organ- 
ization exists  for  this  distinctive  end;  no  other  has  such 
facilities  for  promoting  it.  By  its  public  services  and 
instructions,  by  its  inspirations,  by  its  sacraments,  by  its 
meetings  for  prayer  and  praise,  by  its  warm  fraternal 
sympathy  and  its  varied  means  of  grace,  it  is  calculated 
most  effectively  to  give  stimulus  and  strength  to  those 
who  are  in  the  Christian  way.  The  fact  itself  of  a  public 
committal  to  the  Christian  life  tends  to  restrain  from  evil 
and  to  stimulate  to  right  effort,  while  to  be  surrounded 
by  others  who  are  of  the  same  mind  and  to  breathe  the 
atmosphere  of  holy  aspiration  cannot  fail  to  be  a  powerful 
incentive  to  press  on  in  the  heavenly  path.  The  spirit  of 
religious  earnestness  is  contagious. 

Then,  too,  it  is  only  within  the  church  that  one  enters 
into  the  closest  relations  of  Christian  fellowship,  and 
realizes  the  deepest  satisfaction  from  this  source.  There 
are  here  a  tender  appreciation  and  a  faithful  cooperation 
which  cannot  be  found  elsewhere.  Not  only  is  one 
recognized  as  entitled  to  Christian  sympathy  and  love  in 
a  peculiar  degree,  but  when  the  true  Christian  spirit 
prevails,  Christian  people  take  delight  in  manifesting  it. 
'The  church  is  a  family,  and  its  members  are  related  to 
each  other  through  kinship  with  Christ.  It  is  a  house- 
hold of  faith,  made  up  of  those  with  common  aims  and 
hopes,  all  alike  striving  for  the  same  ends.  What  is  there, 
indeed,  which  can  be  more  helpful  in  nourishing  and 
stimulating  one's  Christian  purposes  and  in  deepening 
his  Christian  experiences  than  such  a  fellowship  as  this  ? 


XI 


1 62  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

The  truth  is,  a  Christian  defrauds  himself  most 
seriously  if  he  fails  to  avail  himself  of  the  aids  to  Chris- 
tian living  and  Christian  growth  which  are  supplied  by 
the  Christian  church.  If  he  does  not  take  advantage  of 
them,  he  runs  great  risk  of  relapsing  into  spiritual  cold- 
ness and  worldliness,  if  not  of  abandoning  the  Christian 
life  altogether.  One  of  the  surest  ways  to  shrivel  up 
spiritually,  to  lose  a  Christian  hope,  and  to  become 
indifferent  to  truth  and  righteousness,  is  to  dispense  with 
the  means  of  grace  which  are  provided  for  his  welfare 
within  the  Christian  church.  It  is  difficult  enough  to 
live  and  to  make  progress  in  the  Christian  life  even  with 
the  use  of  all  the  helps  which  are  available.  To  ignore 
these  helpful  agencies,  as  if  they  were  superfluous,  would 
seem  to  be  the  height  of  folly. 

3.  A  third  reason  for  uniting  with  the  church  is  that 
a  Christian  may  in  this  way  the  more  effectively  promote 
Christ's  cause  in  the  world. 

To  do  this  is  one  of  the  fundamental  objects  of  the 
Christian  life.  It  is  not  only  the  unfolding  of  the  Chris- 
tian graces  of  character,  it  is  also  to  make  one's  influence 
felt  in  the  largest  degree  for  the  advancement  of  Christ's 
cause  and  kingdom.  But  we  know  well  how  any  cause, 
as  a  rule,  is  greatly  increased  in  power  and  effectiveness 
through  organization.  It  was  the  organized  army  which 
crushed  the  Rebellion  and  reestablished  the  authority  of 
the  government.  It  was  not  done,  it  never  would  have 
been  done,  by  a  mass  of  unenlisted,  undisciplined,  single 
shooters.  These  latter  would  have  stood  a  good  chance 
of  being  captured,  to  say  nothing  of  the  embarrassment 
they  would  have  occasioned  those  who  were  bearing  the 
responsibility  of  the  campaigns. 

So  of  Christian  people  outside  the  church.  What  they 
accomplish  for  Christ,  or  can  accomplish,  is  relatively 
small  in  comparison  with  what  they  might  accomplish  if 
they  were  working  in  cooperation  with  others  in  an 
organized  capacity,  while  in  their  isolation  they  are  in 


PUBLIC    CONFESSION    OF    CHRIST  163 

constant  danger  of  being  themselves  overborne  by  subtle 
forces  of  evil  which  are  lurking  secretly  everywhere  about 
them.  It  is  by  organized  missionary  effort  that  the 
heathen  world  is  being  invaded  and  gradually  overcome 
for  Christ.  It  is  by  organization  that  business  enter- 
prises are  made  to  succeed,  that  political  and  philanthropic 
and  reform  movements  are  promoted;  and  it  is  equally 
important  that  the  forces  of  Christ  should  in  like  manner 
be  organized,  in  order  to  their  greatest  efficiency  and  to 
insure  their  highest  success. 

The  Christian  Church  is  an  organization  which  Christ 
himself  established,  and  by  which  this  world  was  to  be 
redeemed.  Other  organizations  have  grown  out  of  it 
for  the  promotion  of  special  Christian  ends,  but  this  was 
and  remains  the  one  great  agency  designed  to  carry  the 
gospel  over  the  world  and  everywhere  to  establish  the 
kingdom  of  God.  In  it,  there  is  a  place  and  a  work  for 
every  believer;  in  it  every  variety  of  talent  may  be  utilized. 
As  this  organization,  equipped  in  all  departments  for  serv- 
ice, moves  steadily  forward,  its  influence  and  power  are 
brought  to  bear  with  ever-increasing  momentum  against 
the  forces  of  evil. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  need  of  the  hour 
is  that  all  who  are  at  heart  loyal  to  Christ  should  show 
their  colors,  enlist  and  stand  together,  both  against  the 
great  evils  of  the  world  and  in  behalf  of  righteousness 
and  truth.  If  any  fail  to  do  this — parents,  teachers, 
employers,  friends — the  children,  the  young  people,  the 
unconverted  generally,  are  quick  to  perceive  the  incon- 
sistency of  their  course  and  to  make  it  an  excuse  for 
not  doing  their  own  duty.  That  they  have  no  right  to  do 
this  makes  no  difference.  They  do  it.  Furthermore,  if 
I  may  justify  myself  in  remaining  outside  the  church  for 
any  reason  whatever,  why  may  not  another  justify  himself 
in  doing  the  same  for  some  other  reason  ?  One  man  may 
think  that  there  are  peculiar  reasons  in  his  particular  case 
which  should  excuse  him  from  taking  a  public  stand  for 


1 64  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

Christ,  but  the  ninety-nine  others  of  the  hundred  can  with 
equal  propriety  urge  the  same  or  similar  reasons  why  they 
also  should  be  exempt  from  this  duty.  If  all  Christians 
should  excuse  themselves — and  one  person  has  the  same 
right  to  do  this  as  another — what  would  become  of  the 
Christian  Church  and  of  organized  Christian  effort,  and 
of  the  cause  of  Christ  generally?  No;  we  who  love 
Christ  have  no  right  to  weaken  our  influence  and  with- 
hold our  help  by  refusing  boldly  to  express  our  allegiance 
to  our  Lord.  It  is  defrauding  the  Church  and  the  cause 
to  do  so.  They  are  entitled  to  the  support  of  the  friends 
of  Christ,  to  the  added  influence  of  their  names,  to  the 
enlarged  strength  of  increased  numbers,  and  to  all  the 
assistance  which  they  are  able  to  render.  Christ  loves 
the  Church  as  the  apple  of  his  eye,  and  he  has  shown 
plainly  that  he  desires  its  prosperity.  Clearly,  therefore, 
any  Christian  who  withholds  his  influence  and  help  from 
it,  even  if  his  assistance  may  not  be  large,  is  by  so  much 
defrauding  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  Christ  himself,  of  that 
which  is  his  rightful  due.  By  remaining  outside  of  its 
membership,  the  weight  of  his  influence  is  really  cast 
against  the  cause  he  loves. 

4.  Finally,  the  Church  needs  the  help  of  every  believer, 
and  solicits  it. 

The  battle  is  on.  Grave  interests  are  at  stake,  the 
highest  interests  of  every  community.  The  influences 
of  the  world  are  pressing  hard.  Great  evils  exist. 
Inroads  are  being  made  upon  Christian  institutions. 
Sabbath-desecration  is  growing,  corruption  is  rife,  infi- 
delity is  rampant.  The  Church  is  battling  bravely,  but 
its  forces  are  none  too  strong.  Some  of  its  most  earnest 
members  have  fallen  in  their  places,  some  have  deserted, 
and  the  burden  for  those  who  remain  is  great.  In  many 
communities  the  Church  is  weak,  its  numbers  are  small, 
its  influence  is  not  as  strong  as  it  ought  to  be,  and  the 
work  languishes.  Yet  there  are  many  in  most  com- 
munities who  are  at  heart  the  friends  of  Christ  and 


PUBLIC   CONFESSION    OF    CHRIST  ^5 

who  would  rejoice  at  the  success  of  his  cause,  who  are 
unknown;  who  never  speak  out;  who  fail  to  identify  them- 
selves with  any  branch  of  the  Christian  Church.  They 
may  be  regarded  as  good  people,  but  not  as  Christian 
people,  or,  if  they  are,  their  influence  usually  counts  for 
little  or  naught,  and  this  for  the  simple  reason  that  they 
will  not  declare  themselves  and  join  heart  and  hand  with 
those  who  are  bearing  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day. 
Reinforcements  are  needed  if  the  warfare  is  to  be  vigor- 
ously and  successfully  prosecuted.  To  this  end  there 
should  be  a  rallying  of  those  who  are  at  heart  united, 
who  alike  believe  in  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ,  but 
who  are  now  unenlisted,  and  who  stand  aloof.  It  is  a 
glorious  work  and  it  is  bound  to  triumph,  but  its  success 
is  delayed  because  of  the  great  army  of  inactive  ones 
outside,  who  yet  cherish  a  secret  hope  in  Christ.  In 
view  of  these  facts,  the  pressing  need,  the  earnest  solicita- 
tion of  the  Church  itself,  the  wishes  of  Christ,  is  not  the 
indifference  of  so  many  to  the  real  interests  of  the  Church 
a  proof  that  they  have  not  really  known  Christ  ? 

The  reasons  we  have  been  urging  for  publicly  confess- 
ing Christ  through  church  membership  apply  equally  to 
those  who  are  members  of  churches  in  other  communities 
which  they  cannot  now  attend.  Many  of  these  persons 
hold  letters  from  these  churches,  which  they  have  never 
presented.  Many  a  church,  now  weak  and  struggling, 
would  be  strong  if  only  all  those  in  its  neighborhood  who 
have  or  are  entitled  to  letters  from  churches  with  which 
they  have  been  connected  were  to  rally  to  its  support. 
It  seems  strange  that  their  sense  of  obligation  to  Christ 
should  be  so  slight.  His  cause  is  suffering  for  want  of 
their  help,  and  they  do  not  render  it. 

We  have  now  endeavored  to  explain  what  church  mem- 
bership is  and  involves,  and  what  it  is  not,  and  to  point 
out  the  obligation  of  Christian  believers  to  make  public 
confession  of  their  Lord  in  connection  with  the  church. 


j66  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

We  have  sought  to  show  the  fallacy  of  various  reasons 
commonly  offered  for  not  joining  the  church,  and  to 
clear  away  the  misconceptions  which  many  entertain  in 
regard  to  this  step.  We  have  given  a  number  of  positive 
reasons  why  a  Christian  should  publicly  confess  his  faith 
in  Christ.  It  is  the  only  natural  and  consistent  course 
for  him  to  pursue.  His  own  spiritual  welfare  requires  it. 
Only  in  this  way  will  he  be  able  to  render  the  most 
effective  service  for  Christ.  The  Church  needs  the  help 
of  every  friend  of  the  Master,  and  earnestly  solicits  it. 
By  remaining  without,  one's  position  is  certain  to  be  mis- 
interpreted and  made  a  stumbling-block  to  others.  A 
Christian  owes  it  to  himself,  to  other  Christians,  to  those 
who  are  not  Christians,  to  Christ,  to  identify  himself  with 
the  one  institution  which  his  Master  has  established,  and 
which  was  intended  not  only  to  nourish  the  spiritual  life 
of  believers  but  to  organize  and  inspire  them  for  effective 
and  triumphant  service  in  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The 
duty  is  plain,  the  privilege  is  great.  Can  any  one  really 
be  a  loyal  disciple  who  deliberately  refuses  to  array  him- 
self on  the  side  of  Christ? 


XI 

POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS   AS    TO    WHAT    CON- 
STITUTES   A    SUCCESSFUL    CHURCH 

Having  seen  what  a  church  is  and  what  it  means  to 
join  a  church,  we  now  ask  what  a  church  is  for?  What 
is  its  real  object,  and  what  the  aim  of  its  Founder? 
How  may  that  aim  be  most  effectively  reached?  These 
questions  are  vitally  related  to  the  progress  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  in  the  world.  Yet  misconceptions  in  respect 
to  the  matters  referred  to  in  the  above  questions  are  not 
uncommon.  Some  of  them  are  exceedingly  mischievous 
in  their  effects,  since  the  views  which  men  hold  give 
character  and  direction  to  their  activities.  A  few  of  these 
misconceptions  may  be  indicated. 

In  the  thought  of  some,  a  church  is  a  company  of  holy 
persons  gathered  out  of  the  world,  to  worship  God  in 
loving  fellowship,  to  sit  together  in  heavenly  places,  to 
share  each  other's  joys,  to  sympathize  with  each  other's 
sorrows,  looking  longingly,  meanwhile,  for  a  speedy 
translation  into  the  realms  of  everlasting  bliss.  Accord- 
ing to  this  idea,  the  church  is  simply  a  society  to  promote 
the  present  and  prospective  blessedness  of  its  members. 
It  has  little  concern  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  those 
outside  its  membership.  This  is  a  very  selfish  concep- 
tion of  the  function  and  purpose  of  a  church. 

Others  go  to  the  other  extreme,  and  lay  the  main  stress 
upon  the  mission  of  the  church  to  the  world.  It  is  to 
preach  the  gospel,  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth,  to  illustrate 
its  power.  Its  hands  are  to  be  constantly  stretched  out 
to  the  unbelieving  and  the  ungodly.  Every  minister  and 
every  member  is  to  be  an  evangelist,  echoing  all  the  while 
the  Master's  invitation,  "Come  unto  me."  This  view  is 

167 


!68  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

an  improvement  upon  the  preceding,  in  that  it  does  not 
lay  the  church  open  to  the  charge  of  selfishness,  but  it  is 
defective  in  not  recognizing  and  providing  for  the  spiritual 
growth  and  culture  of  its  members. 

Others  lay  special  emphasis  upon  the  hospital  idea  of  a 
church.  The  church  is  not  designed  for  those  who  have 
a  vigorous  spiritual  life;  it  is  rather  and  chiefly  for  the 
weak,  for  the  maimed,  for  those  who  are  liable  to  stumble 
and  err.  These  stumbling  ones  must  not  be  cast  out  or 
despised,  even  though  they  repeatedly  yield  to  temptation 
or  fall  into  open  sin  again  and  again.  God  forgives 
times  without  number;  a  church  should  do  likewise.  The 
church  is  a  place  of  wholesome  and  curative  influences, 
an  institution  for  nursing  the  feeble,  a  hospital  for 
spiritual  patients.  There  is  an  element  of  truth  in  the 
view  we  have  here  given,  although  it  can  hardly  be  said 
to  be  sufficiently  comprehensive  and  accurate  to  be 
accepted  without  qualification.  Such  a  view  is  not  calcu- 
lated to  develop  the  highest  type  of  spiritual  manhood. 

There  are  those  also  who  think  of  the  church  as  an 
army.  It  is  an  organization  for  warfare,  for  pulling 
down  the  strongholds  of  Satan.  A  charge  is  to  be  made 
upon  evils  of  all  kinds,  and  campaigns  in  the  interest  of 
righteousness  are  to  be  inaugurated.  The  militant  idea 
takes  precedence  of  all  others.  The  military  is  no  doubt 
an  important  aspect  of  the  work  of  the  kingdom.  Christ 
came  to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil,  and  we  are  not  to 
disregard  his  example  in  this  respect.  But  there  is  need 
for  positive  and  constructive  work,  as  well  as  for  that 
which  is  negative  and  destructive.  The  former,  indeed, 
constitutes  the  main  responsibility  of  believers.  As 
righteousness  and  truth  are  built  up  and  prevail,  evil  and 
error  must  necessarily  give  way. 

Others,  still,  would  make  the  church  to  be  the  center 
and  source  of  all  benevolent,  reformatory  and  philan- 
thropic effort.  But  the  question  may  well  be  raised 
whether  this  conception,  if  dominant,  would  not  inevit- 


A    SUCCESSFUL    CHURCH  169 

ably  lead  the  Church  into  entangling  and  mischievous 
alliances,  to  say  nothing  of  the  tremendous  if  not  crushing 
burdens  which  would  be  imposed  upon  it  in  the  attempt 
to  lead  and  superintend  the  reformatory  and  uplifting 
enterprises  of  the  time.  The  spirit  which  the  gospel 
inculcates  should  and  does  prompt  men  to  humanitarian 
endeavor,  but  this  does  not  mean  that  the  Church  is  to  be 
humanitarian  and  nothing  else.  It  should  be  a  center  and 
source  of  inspiration  to  everything  nolle  and  good,  and 
in  a  very  important  sense  it  may  be  regarded  as  successful 
in  proportion  as  it  impels  men  to  go  forth  and  engage 
in  beneficent  service  for  their  fellow  men,  but  it  can  hardly 
be  expected  to  look  after  the  details  of  the  multifarious 
schemes  for  the  weal  of  men  which  a  spirit  of  love  may 
devise. 

Others  again,  in  practice  if  not  in  theory,  emphasize 
the  idea  of  culture.  The  church  is  a  sort  of  college,  a 
place  for  lectures,  literary  essays,  or  sermons  upon  religi- 
ous and  other  subjects  for  the  intellectual  profit  of  those 
who  hear  them.  In  such  circumstances  there  is  little  call 
for  spiritual  truth,  and  little  or  none  is  given.  Or  the 
social  club  idea  is  prominent,  and  instrusion  by  the  multi- 
tude, or  the  common  people,  is  not  encouraged. 

These  are  some  of  the  differing  conceptions  which  are 
entertained  respecting  the  nature  and  function  of  a 
Christian  church.  Some  truth  enters  into  each  of  these 
conceptions,  but  no  one  of  them  includes  the  whole  truth. 
Each  needs  to  be  supplemented,  and  all  need  to  be  made 
broader,  more  exact,  to  correspond  with  the  Scriptural 
view.  A  definition  of  the  Church,  to  be  complete,  must 
include  the  idea  of  culture,  intellectual  and  spiritual, 
the  idea  of  help  for  those  who  are  weak  and  needy,  the 
idea  of  aggression  against  sin  as  ruling  in  individual 
hearts,  or  as  entrenched  in  the  prevailing  sentiments  and 
customs  of  society.  These  are  expressed  by  the  terms, 
"edify"  and  "multiply."  A  church  is  an  institution  com- 
posed of  believers.  It  is  designed,  first,  to  promote 


170 


POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 


mutual  helpfulness,  spiritual  development,  and  edification 
or  upbuilding  in  the  faith.  This  includes  all  that  the 
individual  Christian  needs  for  instruction,  for  comfort, 
for  strength,  for  growth,  for  preparation  for  usefulness. 
These  ends  are  to  be  realized  through  Christian  fellowship 
and  helpfulness,  and  the  varied  means  of  grace  which 
the  regularly  constituted  church  affords.  Secondly,  a 
church  is  an  organization  for  aggressive  Christian  effort, 
especially  for  the  multiplication  of  believers.  It  is  to 
make  war  upon  evil,  to  alleviate  human  suffering  and 
need,  but,  above  all,  it  is  to  seek  to  win  men  to  Christ. 
In  general,  it  is  designed  to  exert  a  wholesome  and 
uplifting  Christian  influence  upon  society,  but  primarily 
it  is  to  labor  for  the  salvation  of  men  and  their  upbuilding 
in  the  faith.  It  is  intended  to  be  a  fountain  of  spiritual 
blessing  in  the  community  in  which  it  is  planted.  In  a 
very  important  sense  it  should  serve  as  the  conscience  of 
the  community. 

This  sufficiently  indicates  the  Scriptural  idea  of 
a  church.  It  is  so  in  building  up  a  Christian 

character.  There  must  first  be  the  ideal  or  pattern  which 
is  given  in  the  life  and  example  of  Christ.  If  a  body  of 
Christian  people  would  form  a  church  which  shall  most 
effectively  realize  the  ends  and  aims  of  the  Founder  of 
Christianity,  it  is  of  highest  consequence  that  they  have 
a  clear  conception  or  ideal  of  what  constitutes  a  really 
successful  church.  They  are  then  prepared  to  bend  their 
energies  to  the  attainment  of  it. 

We  come  now  to  the  very  practical  question  as  to  what, 
precisely,  constitutes  a  truly  successful  church.  The 
importance  of  holding  correct  ideals  before  the  mind  is 
recognized  in  all  departments  of  endeavor.  It  was  so 
in  the  construction  of  the  tabernacle  in  the  wilderness, 
which  was  to  be  fashioned  after  the  pattern  or  ideal  which 
was  disclosed  to  Moses  in  the  mount.  It  is  so  in  the 
construction  of  a  dwelling-house,  of  a  public  building  or 
a  man-of-war. 


A    SUCCESSFUL    CHURCH 


But  here,  as  everywhere,  we  are  confronted  with  many 
misconceptions.  Much  passes  for  success,  which,  in 
reality,  is  not  success  at  all.  Superficial  views  dominate 
the  thought  and  give  direction  to  the  activities  of  too 
many  churches.  The  popular  idea  of  what  constitutes  a 
prosperous,  flourishing  church  is  often  misleading,  some- 
times entirely  erroneous.  Some  churches  are  popularly 
accounted  strong  and  prosperous  which  when  measured 
by  the  Scripture  standard  would  be  found  lacking  in  the 
essentials  of  real  success. 

If  a  church,  for  example,  has  much  wealth,  is  able  to 
provide  itself  a  costly  edifice,  elegant  furnishings,  expen- 
sive music  and  preaching;  if  its  treasury  is  never  empty, 
it  is  considered  by  many,  by  most,  perhaps,  to  be  in  a 
highly  flourishing  condition.  It  may  be  so,  but  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  spiritual  poverty  prevails  in  many  of  our 
wealthiest  churches.  Money  alone,  important  as  it  is, 
cannot,  by  itself,  insure  true  church  success.  Something 
more  than  money  is  requisite.  Abundant  material 
resources  are  not  to  be  disparaged.  Rightly  used,  they 
constitute  a  powerful  aid  in  securing  the  true  ends  of  a 
church. 

But  the  vital  question  is,  Is  this  wealth,  are  these 
material  resources  consecrated?  Do  those  who  possess 
them  regard  themselves  as  God's  stewards?  Do  they 
realize  that  the  property  which  they  call  their  own  is  not, 
in  reality,  theirs,  but  the  Lord's,  and  that  it  is  only  en- 
trusted to  them,  like  the  talents  in  the  parable,  and  that 
they  are  responsible  for  the  right  use  of  it.  Do  they  hold 
it  subject  to  God's  call  ?  If  so,  if  that  is  the  spirit  in  which 
Christian  people  employ  their  means,  large  or  small, 
abundant  material  resources  in  a  church  may  prove  a 
great  blessing,  and  tremendously  augment  its  power  of 
usefulness.  Otherwise,  they  may  be  a  curse,  a  millstone 
about  its  neck. 

Again,  a  church  which  includes  in  its  ranks  the  leading 
social  and  cultured  elements  of  a  community,  the  elite,  so 


172 


POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 


termed,  is  usually  regarded  as  particularly  fortunate.  It 
may  be  so,  but  it  does  not  follow  that  those  who  stand 
highest  in  society  stand  highest  before  God.  Social 
standing  and  culture,  if  fully  consecrated,  add  immensely 
to  the  strength  of  a  church,  and  to  its  usefulness.  The 
vital  question  relates  to  their  consecration.  Christian  cul- 
ture and  Christian  society  may  be  so  saturated  with  world- 
liness,  so  blind  to  that  which  is  most  vital  in  the  Christian 
life,  so  indifferent  to  the  obligations  of  aggressive 
Christian  service,  as  to  be  a  drawback  rather  than  an 
advantage  to  the  church  to  which  they  belong. 

Again,  the  success  of  a  church  is  often  measured  by  its 
numbers,  either  in  membership  or  in  the  congregation 
attending  its  services.  Large  numbers  may  indicate  suc- 
cess, but  do  not  do  so  necessarily.  Various  influences 
operate  to  draw  people  into  church  relationships,  various 
motives  prompt  their  flocking  to  public  worship.  Some- 
times it  is  the  music,  sometimes  it  is  the  elegant  appoint- 
ments of  the  church  building,  sometimes  it  is  social  in- 
fluences, sometimes  it  is  the  popularity  or  eccentricity  of 
the  preacher,  or  the  sensational  character  of  his  themes, 
which  draws.  A  thousand  things  may  operate  to  attract 
the  crowds  and  to  lead  people  to  unite  with  the  church. 

It  is,  of  course,  very  desirable  to  have  large  numbers. 
One  aim  of  the  church  is  to  gather  the  people  in,  to  bring 
them  under  sanctuary  influences.  To  this  end  all  legiti- 
mate means  may  be,  ought  to  be,  often  are  employed.  The 
services  should  be  attractive;  the  place  where  they  are 
held  should  be  cheerful  and  inviting.  The  vital  question 
as  to  the  members  is,  how  many  of  them  are  really  conse- 
crated; how  many  of  them  keep  their  covenant  vows; 
how  many  are  fulfilling  their  Christian  obligations? 
When  this  is  true  of  the  majority  of  the  members  of  any 
given  church,  the  larger  it  is  the  better.  Otherwise,  size 
may  prove  weakness.  The  three  hundred  selected  out 
of  Gideon's  army  who  shouted,  "The  sword  of  the  Lord 
and  of  Gideon,"  were  mightier,  under  God,  than  the 


A    SUCCESSFUL    CHURCH 


17.3 


original  thirty  thousand.  A  small  number  of  earnest, 
devoted  Christian  people,  who  are  thoroughly  consecrated 
to  God,  property  and  all,  and  who  are  heart  and  soul 
interested  in  his  work,  ready  and  eager  to  do  all  in 
their  power  to  promote  it,  make  a  far  stronger  church 
than  a  host  of  half-hearted,  worldly,  indifferent  people, 
no  matter  how  wealthy,  or  how  high  they  stand  socially, 
who  have  only  a  name  to  live  but  are  spiritually  dead. 

The  truth  is,  much  that  passes  for  church  prosperity  is 
only  semblance.  It  is  superficial.  We  must  look  below 
the  surface  if  we  would  discover  the  real  secret  of  success 
in  church  life  and  work,  or  learn  what  are  the  fundamental 
principles  of  its  real  prosperity. 

What,  then,  are  some  of  the  positive  elements  which 
are  essential  for  the  i'ormation  of  a  really  strong  and  pros- 
perous church? 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  these  elements  will  be 
found  within  the  church  rather  than  in  its  external  cir- 
cumstances; in  its  spiritual  rather  than  in  its  material 
condition;  in  the  spiritual  quality  of  its  membership, 
rather  than  merely  in  its  social  standing,  its  culture,  or 
its  wealth. 

I.  First  of  all,  a  church,  to  be  truly  strong  and  effect- 
ive, must  be  thoroughly  rooted  and  grounded  in  God's 
Wrord.  This  is  the  soil  from  which  its  nourishment  is 
mainly  to  be  drawn.  This  Word  contains  that  which  is 
divinely  adapted  to  the  sustenance  and  growth  of  the 
spiritual  life.  This  is  the  foundation  which  was  laid  for 
the  Church  by  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself 
being  the  chief  corner-stone.  History  teaches  us  that 
that  church  or  denomination  which  has  remained  most 
loyal  to  this  Word  has  had  the  most  vitality,  has  been  the 
most  aggressive  in  Christian  service,  and. has  exerted  the 
most  positive  influence.  The  winds  of  worldliness  blow- 
ing about  it  or  the  floods  of  skepticism  breaking  against 
it  have  been  powerless  to  disturb  or  to  undermine  it,  for 
it  has  been  founded  upon  a  rock. 


POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 


On  the  other  hand,  the  church  which  has  allowed  itself 
to  drift  from  its  Scriptural  moorings  and  has  substituted 
human  philosophy  or  speculation  for  the  teachings  of  the 
Word  has  uniformly  lost  its  spiritual  vitality,  its  hold 
upon  men,  its  power  of  saving  them.  In  times  of  testing 
it  has  been  found  to  have  been  built  upon  the  sand. 

2.  A  second  element  of  strength  in  a  church  is  in  the 
character  of  its  members.  A  church  is  strong  and  pros- 
perous in  proportion  as  those  who  stand  for  it  before 
the  world  are  seeking  sincerely  to  conform  their  lives 
to  the  spirit  and  standards  of  Christ. 

The  Church  exists  —  and  the  world  so  understands  it  — 
to  make  people  better.  It  is  expected,  and  properly  so, 
that  those  who  have  taken  upon  themselves  the  name  of 
Christ  will  be  good  men  and  good  women.  If  this  is 
not  the  case,  or  in  so  far  as  it  is  not,  the  church  is  a 
failure,  is  counted  as  a  failure,  and  the  Christian  religion 
discredited.  Let  a  Christian  disciple  fall  seriously  short 
in  his  daily  life,  let  him  be  dishonest  in  business,  disregard 
his  just  obligations,  fail  to  pay  his  bills;  let  him  be  hypo- 
critical or  mean  or  in  any  way  dishonor  his  profession; 
how  quickly  men  make  note  of  it,  make  unfavorable  com- 
ment upon  it  and  upon  the  Christian  religion  and  the 
Christian  Church  !  "There's  one  of  your  church-mem- 
bers !"  they  sneeringly  say.  Thus  the  Church  suffers,  its 
influence  is  weakened,  its  power  of  usefulness  is  under- 
mined, the  cause  of  Christ  is  retarded. 

For  Christianity  and  the  Church  are  judged  by  the  lives 
of  professed  believers.  These  are  the  object-lessons 
which  the  world  studies.  The  world  may  be  unreason- 
able in  its  judgments;  may  be  indifferent  to  the  character 
of  the  Head  of  the  Church  and  the  spirit  which  lie  in- 
culcates; may  overlook  the  many  faithful  and  devoted 
persons  who  bear  his  name  and  whose  lives  are  above  re- 
proach; but,  reasonable  or  unreasonable,  the  Christian 
religion  and  the  Christian  Church  are  studied  by  the  world 
in  the  lives  of  professed  Christian  disciples. 


A    SUCCESSFUL    CHURCH 


In  such  circumstances,  a  single  unworthy  church-mem- 
ber can  do  more  to  discredit  Christianity  and  destroy  a 
church's  influence  than  a  score  of  good  men  can  do  to  sup- 
port them.  A  church  which  pays  no  heed  to  the  moral 
laxity  of  its  members,  which  fails  in  the  exercise  of  proper 
discipline,  which  does  not  seek  in  the  spirit  of  love  to 
restore  the  derelict,  might  as  well  close  its  doors. 

On  the  other  hand,  where  moral  earnestness  prevails  in 
a  body  of  professing  Christians,  when  they  are  so  evi- 
dently working  together  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  that  no 
one  can  fail  to  see  it,  when  they  are  actively  engaged  in 
the  Lord's  service,  they  form  a  power  in  the  community 
which  is  constantly  recognized.  As  the  hands  on  the 
dial-plate  of  the  town  clock  mark  the  time  for  all  its 
inhabitants,  so  the  church  in  its  collective  life  as  the  con- 
science of  the  community  regulates  the  conduct  of  all  its 
members.  Such  a  church  is  strong,  whether  few  in  num- 
bers or  many,  strong  because  it  stands  for  the  right. 
Every  believer  is  a  "living  epistle,  known  and  read  of  all 
men."  The  church  and  the  cause  which  it  represents 
command  the  respect  and  often  receive  the  help  even  of 
worldly  men. 

We  see,  therefore,  that  one  of  the  requisites  for  a  truly 
prosperous  church  is  a  careful,  conscientious  and  godly 
walk  on  the  part  of  all  its  members. 

3.  A  third  element  of  strength  and  success  in  a  church 
is  its  prevailing,  dominating  Christian  spirit.  As  truly 
as  a  person,  a  church  has  an  individuality  of  its  own.  A 
marked  earnestness  may  characterize  it,  or  a  spiritual 
deadness.  It  may  be  exceptionally  warm  and  social,  or 
it  may  freeze  people  out  by  the  chilliness  of  its  atmos- 
phere. It  may  be  aristocratic  and  exclusive,  or  it  may  be 
a  church  of  the  people.  It  may  be  noted  for  its  gener- 
osity or  for  its  stinginess;  for  its  missionary  zeal  or  for 
its  moral  reform  work;  for  its  evangelistic  spirit,  or  for 
aggressiveness  in  general.  This  pervading  spirit  is  dis- 
cerned at  once  as  one  comes  in  contact  with  its  people  or 


!^6  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

attends  its  services.  The  church  itself  may  not  realize 
the  full  extent  of  this  spirit,  but  it  is  a  real  factor  in  its 
life  and  influence,  for  the  spirit  of  the  church  is  stamped 
more  or  less  upon  its  entire  membership. 

Into  this  spirit,  or  atmosphere,  various  elements  have 
entered.  History,  traditions,  precedents,  have  had  much 
to  do  with  it,  form  the  basis  of  it.  The  personality  of 
the  pastor  and  of  those  who  are  its  recognized  leaders  is 
a  large  factor  in  it.  Something  from  the  life  and 
character  of  each  of  its  members  enters  into  it.  Each 
one  of  them  contributes  something.  All  these  elements 
combined  help  to  make  up  the  distinctive  life,  spirit,  at- 
mosphere or  individuality  of  a  church,  just  as  the  waters 
of  many  tributaries,  large  and  small,  form  the  great 
volume  and  the  powerful  current  of  a  mighty  river. 

It  is  this  aggregate  or  dominating  spirit  of  a  church 
which  has  so  much  to  do  with  determining  its  success  or 
failure.  And  when  we  reflect  upon  its  potency;  how  it 
pervades  and  controls  everything  within  a  church;  how 
young  people,  especially,  unconsciously  imbibe  it;  how  it 
determines  the  quality  of  its  Christian  manhood  and 
womanhood  and  the  type  of  its  Christian  influence;  when 
we  think  of  its  effect  upon  the  activities  of  a  church  and 
upon  the  character  and  extent  of  its  activities,  we  begin 
to  realize,  in  a  measure,  the  importance  of  endeavoring  to 
bring  that  spirit  as  nearly  as  possible  into  harmony  with 
the  spirit  of  Christ. 

Some  aspects  or  characteristics  of  this  much-needed 
spirit  may  be  pointed  out : 

(i)  A  spirit  of  Christian  fellowship,  of  Christian 
love,  of  Christian  unity,  is  indispensable.  The  church  is  a 
home,  and  the  family  spirit  should  prevail  in  it — a  glad 
consciousness  among  its  members  of  a  close  family  tie. 
They  are  brethren  and  sisters  in  Christ,  and  there  should 
be  a  disposition  of  mutual  helpfulness  among  them  and  a 
cordial  regard  toward  all  who  join  their  number.  In  such 
an  atmosphere  there  will  be  willing  tolerance  of  personal 


A    SUCCESSFUL    CHURCH 


177 


peculiarities,  large  charity  with  reference  to  weakness 
and  infirmities,  a  readiness  to  bear  one  another's  burdens, 
to  rejoice  unselfishly  with  those  who  rejoice,  and  to  weep 
sympathetically  with  those  who  weep.  Christian  love 
will  abound.  Each  one  will  be  tenderly  considerate  of 
others.  The  spirit  of  thoughtless  criticism,  which  is  the 
bane  of  so  many  churches,  will  be  unknown. 

It  was  a  beautiful  tribute  which  a  pastor,  in  speaking 
to  another,  paid  to  his  church.  He  had  been  with  it  only 
a  few  months,  but  long  enough  to  enable  him  to  learn  its 
spirit.  Said  he,  "I  have  never  yet  heard  one  person  in 
my  church  speak  unkindly  of  another."  Love  and 
respect  abounded.  Such  a  thing  as  strife  and  faction 
seemed  to  be  unknown.  Naturally,  in  such  circumstances, 
there  was  oneness  of  aim  and  purpose,  so  that,  notwith- 
standing individual  differences  of  opinion  on  minor 
matters,  there  were  the  peace  and  serenity  which  are 
found  in  the  deep  sea  far  below  the  strife  and  turmoil  of 
its  surface.  This  unity  of  spirit  is  one  of  the  vital  con- 
ditions of  a  truly  strong  and  prosperous  church.  In 
this  union  there  is  strength.  Without  it,  with  a  dis- 
cordant, inharmonious  spirit  prevailing,  the  family  and 
fraternal  sentiment  absent,  with  bitterness  and  alienation 
and  jealousies  among  the  members  of  a  church,  with 
factions  pulling  in  different  directions,  success  is  out  of 
the  question.  Aggressive  work  is  hindered  if  not  stopped 
altogether.  People  are  repelled  instead  of  attracted. 
Few,  if  any,  souls  are  gathered  into  the  kingdom. 

On  the  coast  of  Scotland,  the  beloved  Arnot  once  saw 
a  man  walking  out  into  the  water  carrying  a  basket  in 
one  arm  and  having  a  small  staff  in  his  hand.  The  man 
would  now  and  then  thrust  the  end  of  the  stick  down 
to  the  bottom,  then  draw  it  up  again,  take  something 
from  the  end  of  it,  put  it  in  the  basket,  and  so  walk  on, 
repeating  the  process.  Arnot  approached  him  and  asked 
what  he  was  doing.  Said  he,  "I  am  fishing  for  pearls." 
"How  do  you  do  it?"  was  the  next  question.  The  man 

XII 


POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 


replied,  "I  move  along  in  the  water,  and  wherever  I  see 
an  open  shell  lying  on  the  bottom,  I  thrust  my  stick  into 
it,  and  the  shell  closes  upon  it,  and  I  take  it  up.  But 
there  is  this  remarkable  thing  about  this  kind  of  fishing: 
we  cannot  catch  a  single  pearl  while  there  is  even  a  ripple 
on  the  surface  of  the  water."  The  incident  impresses 
its  own  lesson. 

(2)  There  will  be  a  large  element  of  aggressiveness 
in  the  spirit  which  characterizes  the  truly  prosperous 
church.  Aggressiveness  along  moral  and  spiritual  lines 
is  one  of  the  fundamental  aims  of  a  church,  notably  with 
reference  to  bringing  men  into  the  kingdom. 

Yet,  in  some  churches  this  spirit  is  entirely  lacking. 
There  seems  to  be  no  idea  that  a  church  has  any  specific 
mission  to  accomplish  further  than  to  provide  for  Sun- 
day services,  and  from  time  to  time  to  make  needed 
repairs  about  the  house  in  which  they  are  held.  As  a 
natural  consequence,  the  church  seldom  or  never  makes 
definite  plans  or  puts  forth  definite  efforts  to  accomplish 
positive  religious  results,  while  it  is  rarely,  if  ever,  that 
any  one  is  converted  and  unites  with  it. 

Recognizing  its  mission  to  reach  out  beyond  itself,  and 
to  minister  to  others,  a  church,  to  be  most  effective  in 
its  activities,  should  be  thoroughly  organized,  as  men 
organize  for  greater  effectiveness  in  other  relations  and 
spheres.  Provision  should  be  made  to  give  every  mem- 
ber of  it  something  to  do.  There  should  be  a  place  and 
a  dutv  for  each  one  in  the  scheme  of  the  church's 
activities. 

Furthermore,  there  should  be  as  much  of  the  practical 
business  method  as  may  be  needful  in  carrying  out  the 
ends  of  a  church.  The  most  competent  men  should  be 
sought  out  to  fill  positions  of  responsibility,  instead  of  the 
least  competent,  as  is  so  often  the  case.  The  church 
has  no  right  to  tolerate  mere  figureheads.  The  house 
of  worshin  should  be  made  attractive,  as  merchants  seek 
to  render  their  places  of  business  attractive,  while  every 


A    SUCCESSFUL    CHURCH  179 

courtesy  should  be  shown  to  strangers  who  drop  in  to 
the  services.  Common  sense  ought  not  to  be  left  behind 
when  it  comes  to  the  realm  of  religious  service. 

A  spirit  of  aggressiveness  will  also  lead  a  church  to 
be  alive  and  on  the  alert  with  reference  to  any  special 
needs  or  demands  of  the  times,  or  of  its  locality.  It  will 
be  progressive  as  well  as  aggressive.  It  will  be  prompt  to 
adjust  itself  to  such  exigencies  as  may  arise,  and  to  take 
advantage  of  providential  opportunities.  When  impor- 
tant moral  questions  are  up,  and  for  the  time  being 
are  prominent,  a  live  church  will  seek  to  mold  the 
sentiment  of  the  people  aright  in  regard  to  them.  It 
need  not  ally  itself  with  any  political  party  or  with  any 
special  organization,  which  is  always  a  hazardous  thing 
to  do,  but  it  should  speak  out  in  no  uncertain  tones 
and  inculcate  such  views  and  such  a  spirit  in  its  members 
that  they  can  be  trusted  to  act  intelligently  and  con- 
scientiously in  the  discharge  of  their  civic  responsibilities. 
It  can  speak  out  upon  the  Sabbath  question,  and  it  should 
do  so  often,  for  if  the  American  Sabbath,  with  all  that 
it  implies,  is  to  be  maintained  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
churches  to  make  their  influence  felt  in  the  most  positive 
and  pronounced  manner.  Nor  should  it  be  silent  upon 
the  temperance  question.  There  may  be  differences  of 
judgment  as  to  methods  to  be  employed,  but  there  need 
be  none  as  to  the  fundamental  principles  involved.  The 
church  can  help  create  a  righteous  sentiment  out  of  which 
just  laws  will  be  made.  It  can  speak  out,  as  occasion 
demands,  against  civic,  or  state,  or  national  corruption. 
It  is  not  the  business  of  the  church  to  be  active  in 
politics  as  such,  but  it  should  strive  to  make  good  citizens. 
It  is  not  its  function  to  instruct  a  man  how  to  vote,  but 
it  should  so  indoctrinate  him  with  right  principles  that 
he  can  be  trusted  to  vote  intelligently  and  conscientiously. 
Crowning  all,  this  aggressiveness  will  manifest  itself  in 
an  earnest  evangelistic  spirit,  which  will  prompt  constant 
effort  to  bring  men  into  right  relations  with  God.  Other 


j8o  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

lines  of  effort  are  important,  this  is  all-imporant.  Other 
things  ought  to  be  done,  this  is  never  to  be  left  undone. 
This  is  the  highest  and  most  important  realm  of  Christian 
service.  This  service  is  to  be  rendered  largely  through 
personal  influence  exerted  in  connection  with  the  varied 
agencies  of  the  church.  Every  member,  as  well  as  the 
pastor,  ought  to  be  an  evangelist,  with  a  growing  sense 
of  responsibility  for  the  conversion  of  men.  From  time 
to  time  the  necessities  of  the  situation  may  call  for  the 
suspension  of  other  lines  of  activity,  and  the  bending  of 
all  energies  for  the  gathering  in  of  the  ripened  and  waiting 
harvest.  No  church  can  be  said  to  be  fulfilling  its  proper 
functions  which  is  not  pervaded  by  an  evangelistic  spirit, 
or  which  fails  to  put  forth  definite  efforts  for  the  salvation 
of  men. 

When  a  church  is  pervaded  by  this  aggressive  spirit, 
equipped  and  ready  for  active  effort  in  all  these  directions, 
it  is  prepared  to  become,  it  will  become,  a  mighty  power 
for  good  in  any  community.  It  stands  for  something, 
and  it  will  accomplish  something.  Communion  after 
communion  does  not  pass  without  accessions  to  its  mem- 
bership. A  church,  though  small  in  numbers,  with  the 
right  spirit  will  exert  an  influence  which  will  every- 
where be  recognized  and  felt. 

How  very  different  the  state  of  things  in  a  large,  strong 
church — strong  according  to  worldly  standards — in  a 
city  which  I  once  visited !  Inquiry  was  made  of  friends 
who  were  members  of  it  as  to  what  the  church  was 
doing.  "Oh,  nothing  in  particular,"  was  the  reply;  "we 
need  a  general  stirring  up."  "Are  you  obliged  to  have 
entertainments  of  various  kinds  to  help  support  the 
church?"  "No,  our  expenses  are  all  met  by  pew-rents. 
We  have  no  difficulty  in  raising  all  the  money  that  is 
necessary.  Our  people  generally  are  pretty  well  off." 
"Is  anything  being  done  for  the  needy  of  the  community? 
Are  there  any  systematic  plans  to  this  end?"  "No." 
"Well,  are  you  doing  anything  for  the  needy  elsewhere — 


A    SUCCESSFUL    CHURCH 

for  the  freednien,  home-missionary  families,  for  plague 
or  famine-stricken  peoples?  Are  you  raising  money  or 
filling  any  boxes  with  clothing,  or  food,  or  other  neces- 
saries, to  be  sent  to  them?"  "No;  except  that  once  in 
a  while  we  hold  a  ladies'  missionary  meeting."  "Are 
you  supporting  any  Sunday-school,  or  mission,  aside 
from  your  own  school?"  "No."  "Do  you  have  any 
accessions  to  your  membership?"  "Rarely,  now,  unless 
some  one  moves  into  the  nighborhood  and  joins  the  church 
by  letter."  "How  is  the  prayer-meeting?"  "Very  few 
attend  it.  It  is  not  very  interesting."  "Are  you  doing 
anything,  as  a  church,  aside  from  carrying  on  the  routine 
of  the  church  services  ?"  "Well,  not  much,  I  guess.  The 
truth  is,  we  need  a  general  stirring  up."  Unquestionably, 
this  was  the  fact.  The  difficulty  was,  there  was  no 
aggressive,  working  spirit  in  that  wealthy  church,  and  too 
many  others  are  in  the  same  apathetic  condition.  They 
have  a  name  that  they  live,  but  they  are  spiritually  dead. 

Does  any  one  ask  how  this  active,  aggressive  spirit  is 
to  be  cultivated  or  developed?  The  example  of  the 
pastor  and  of  a  few  earnest  members  cooperating  with 
him  will  go  far  to  promote  it.  Enthusiasm  on  the  part 
of  any  one  is  apt  to  be  contagious.  But  the  one  thing 
needed  above  all  else  is  more  of  the  Holy  Spirit  breathed 
into  the  hearts  of  the  church-members,  more  prayer  for 
the  presence  of  the  Spirit,  that  all  may  be  girded,  ener- 
gized, impelled,  to  engage  in  earnest  effort,  and  that  all 
the  church  machinery  may  be  set  in  motion.  Without 
prayer,  efficiency  and  success  in  church  life  and  work  are 
impossible.  Prayer  is  the  vital  breath  of  a  church,  as  it  is 
of  the  individual  Christian.  If  this  ceases,  its  spiritual 
life  ceases,  its  activities  are  interrupted.  The  early 
Church  was  a  Church  of  prayer.  After  Christ  departed, 
it  met  and  prayed  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  it  continued  to  do  so  until  the  blessing  came.  Then 
all  were  energized  for  effective  service.  The  Church  to- 
day can  learn  a  practical  lesson  from  this.  There  is  need 


1 82  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

of  the  same  quickening,  energizing  presence  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  and  this  Spirit  is  as  available  now  as  it  was  then. 
The  praying  church  is  the  live  church.  It  is  aggressive, 
too,  and  especially  in  the  work  of  saving  men. 

(3)  Another  phase  of  the  spirit  which  pervades  and 
animates   a   truly   prosperous   church,    is    a   missionary 
interest.     The  sympathies  of  a  church  should  be  as  large 
and   broad   as   the   sympathies   of    Christ.     There   was 
nothing  narrow  or  contracted  about  him  or  his  thought. 
His  sympathies  included  all  classes,   all  conditions,  all 
races  of  men,  the  whole  world,  while  in  his  plans  for  the 
kingdom  provision  was  made  for  its  universal  proclama- 
tion.    There  is  something  sublime  in  such  a  conception 
as  this,  and  a  Christian  church  should  be  just  as  broad 
in  its  sympathies  as  was  its  Founder.     A  church  has  no 
more  right  to  exist  for  itself  solely,  or  for  its  own  local 
constituency,  than  a  Christian  man  has  to  live  to  himself 
alone.     There  are  other  interests  than  its  own,  which  are 
dear  to  Christ's  heart;  there  are  other  fields  than  its  own, 
which  must  be  remembered  in  their  needs;   there  are 
whole   continents,    almost,    which   are   destitute   of   the 
gospel,  and  if  Christ's  people  do  not  make  provision  for 
them,   who  will?       The  Church   is   responsible   for  the 
world's   evangelization.     Christ's    command    is   binding 
upon  his  people  still.     A  church's  first  duty  is  to  provide 
for  its  own,  but,  after  that,  there  can  be  no  escaping 
responsibility  for  the  world  at  large.     The  surest  way  to 
destroy  the  spiritual  life  of  any  church  is  to  ignore  the 
world's  needs.     The  present  is  a  missionary  era,  and  no 
church  is  up  with  the  times  or  doing  its  duty,  which 
does  not   recognize  this   fact  and   cheerfully  do  all   in 
its  power  to  promote  a  cause  which  is  dear  to  Christ's 
heart.     A  true  missionary  spirit  ought  to  be  characteristic 
of  every  church. 

(4)  One  other  aspect  of  the  spirit  which  is  essential 
to  render  a  church  in  the  largest  measure  effective  for 
carrying  out  its  mission  may  be  noted.       It  is  called  by 


A    SUCCESSFUL    CHURCH 


the  French  esprit  de  corps.  This  is  not  merely  a  narrow, 
denominational  zeal;  it  is  a  spirit  of  loyal  devotion  to 
one's  church,  because  it  is  the  church  of  one's  choice,  the 
organization  in  connection  with  which  one  chiefly  labors 
to  promote  the  kingdom  of  God.  This  spirit  is  somewhat 
akin  to  a  patriot's  love  for  his  country.  The  life  of  its 
possessor  is  in  his  church.  He  aims  to  be  present  at 
all  its  meetings.  A  little  dew  on  the  ground,  or  a  slight 
moisture  in  the  air,  or  a  tiny  cloud  in  the  heavens,  is 
not  sufficient  to  keep  him  away.  He  is  deeply  interested 
in  whatever  relates  to  its  welfare,  is  jealous  for  its 
good  name,  is  enthusiastic  in  its  support.  He  stands  by 
it  through  thick  and  thin. 

When  such  a  spirit  prevails  within  a  church  —  and  this 
spirit  can  be  cultivated  —  it  becomes,  under  God,  a  most 
powerful  factor  in  promoting  his  cause.  If  money  is  to 
be  raised,  it  is  not  a  question  how  much  Mr.  - 
is  going  to  give,  but,  How  much  can  I  personally  afford 
to  contribute?  If  any  special  work  is  to  be  done,  this 
spirit  leads  to  an  enthusiastic  effort  on  the  part  of  all 
to  do  it,  and  to  do  it  well  for  Christ's  sake. 

It  was  once  my  privilege  to  preach  for  a  Sunday  to  just 
such  a  church.  It  was  small,  and  its  house  of  worship 
was  not  large.  It  was  a  rainy  day,  and  the  rain  poured 
down  in  torrents  at  just  the  hour  for  people  to  leave 
their  homes  for  the  morning  service.  Of  course,  thought 
I,  there  will  be  but  a  handful  out,  possibly  a  score,  perhaps 
not  more  than  a  dozen.  But  what  were  my  astonishment 
and  delight  when  the  time  for  opening  the  service  arrived 
to  find  the  house  full,  scarcely  a  seat  being  vacant.  My 
spirits  rose  at  once.  The  people  were  closely  attentive. 
All  entered  into  the  responsive  reading  and  the  singing 
with  a  vim,  as  if  they  heartily  relished  it.  None  of  them 
seemed  concerned  about  the  time;  no  one  turned  around 
to  look  at  the  clock;  not  a  single  watch  came  out.  They 
seemed  to  be  as  much  interested  as  if  they  were  not  listen- 
ing to  a  sermon,  but  a  lecture,  at  fifty  cents  admission, 


184  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

or  to  a  magnificent  oratorio,  like  "Creation,"  or  "St. 
Paul."  It  was  an  inspiration  to  stand  before  such  a  con- 
gregation. At  the  close  of  the  service  I  inquired  what  it 
meant — such  a  congregation,  on  such  a  morning,  and  all 
so  interested.  "Oh,"  they  said,  "that's  the  way  our 
people  always  do.  A  little  rain  (it  was  pouring)  makes 
no  difference.  They  love  the  church,  and  they  enter  into 
all  the  church  work  in  just  this  way." 

"How  about  the  prayer-meeting?"  I  next  inquired. 
"We  have  most  excellent  prayer-meetings;  nearly  all  the 
church  people  are  on  hand  and  enter  into  the  service  as 
if  they  thoroughly  enjoyed  it.  It  is  a  kind  of  family 
gathering."  I  attended  the  Sunday-school.  The  little 
church  was  full  again,  although  it  was  raining  still.  I 
asked  if  this  was  about  the  average  attendance.  "Oh," 
said  the  superintendent,  "our  people  seem  really  to  love 
the  Sunday-School;  always  turn  out,  old  and  young  alike, 
rain  or  shine.  I  have  a  splendid  corps  of  teachers,  rarely 
an  absence,  and  they  exercise  a  kind  of  pastoral  care 
over  their  classes,  visiting  the  members  at  their  homes. 
If  one  is  absent  from  a  class  for  a  Sunday,  the  teacher 
soon  finds  out  the  reason." 

It  was  still  raining  at  the  hour  of  the  evening  service. 
Surely,  thought  I,  only  a  handful  will  be  out  to-night, 
especially  after  such  a  turnout  this  morning  and  at 
Sunday-school.  As  I  reached  the  church  rather  early, 
I  found  a  large  and  rousing  Endeavor  meeting  in 
progress.  There  was  no  hesitation,  no  delay.  Each 
member  seemed  to  be  doing  his  duty.  At  the  close  of  the 
meeting,  all  went  at  once  into  the  main  audience-room 
instead  of  going  home  or  elsewhere,  as  is  so  often  the 
case,  and  the  house  was  soon  as  full  as  in  the  morning. 
It  was  a  most  enjoyable  service — the  entire  day 
had  been  so — and  as,  at  the  close,  the  people 
crowded  around  to  speak  to  me,  stranger  though  I 
was,  I  could  not  refrain  from  expressing  my  de- 
light at  the  spirit  which  seemed  to  pervade  the 


A    SUCCESSFUL    CHURCH  185 

church,  the  esprit  de  corps  which  was  so  apparent.  They 
loved  their  church,  were  deeply  interested  in  its  success, 
all  of  them,  old  and  young,  and  were  enthusiastic  in  regard 
to  everything  pertaining  to  it  and  its  welfare — all  because 
of  their  love  for  Christ  and  for  each  other.  Ever  since, 
the  thought  of  that  rousing  little  church,  with  its  hopeful, 
cheerful,  loyal  spirit,  has  been  an  inspiration. 

We  have  now  gone  over  the  ground  proposed,  having 
spoken  of  what  a  church  is  for,  and  of  a  number  of  the 
elements  which  are  essential  to  its  prosperity;  having 
pointed  out  what  would  seem  to  be  the  ideal  of  a  success- 
ful church.  A  church  is  an  organization  composed  of 
believers  in  Christ.  Its  aim  is  to  build  up  its  members 
in  faith  and  love,  and  to  develop  the  graces  of  the 
Christian  character;  to  multiply  its  numbers  by  winning 
others  to  discipleship;  to  make  its  influence  felt  in  the 
community  where  it  exists  for  righteousness  and  truth, 
and  for  the  betterment  of  society  the  world  over.  In 
order  to  realize  this  aim,  it  is  important,  first,  that  it  be 
firmly  rooted  and  grounded  in  the  "faith  which  was  once 
for  all  delivered  unto  the  saints,"  in  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Christ,  and  as  set  forth  in  his  Word;  second,  that  the 
character  of  its  members,  by  which  the  world  judges  the 
Christian  religion  and  the  Christian  Church,  be  upright 
and  moral,  and  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  and  character 
of  Christ;  thirdly,  that  the  spirit  which  pervades  it  be 
full  of  sweetness  and  love,  mutual  sympathy,  aggressive, 
evangelistic,  missionary,  with  an  esprit  de  corps  which 
is  enthusiastic,  loyal.  A  church  which  possesses  these 
characteristics  and  depends  upon  the  Holy  Spirit  for  en- 
lightenment and  inspiration,  cannot  fail  to  be  strong  and 
to  prosper.  It  will,  in  the  highest  degree,  be  successful. 
To  it,  as  was  the  case  with  churches  in  the  first  century, 
there  will  be  added  daily  of  such  as  are  being  saved. 


XII 

POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS    AS    TO    THE    KIND    OF 
PREACHING    NEEDED   IN    OUR   AGE 

It  is  related  that  in  the  cabin  of  one  of  the  earliest 
steamers  to  cross  the  Atlantic  hung  a  painting  represent- 
ing Columbus'  first  sight  of  the  new  world.  About  him, 
on  the  deck  of  the  vessel,  lay  a  group  of  sailors  asleep. 
The  grandest  event  of  modern  history  signified  nothing 
to  them.  In  the  stillness  of  the  night  stood  the  great 
explorer,  his  hand  above  his  forehead,  his  whole  soul 
shining  in  his  eyes.  He  had  caught  sight  of  a  light 
moving  about  on  the  far-off  shore,  and  toward  that  his 
thoughts  were  all  flying  forward.  No  wonder  that  he 
was  profoundly  moved,  in  view  of  a  discovery  of  such  vast 
significance,  and  of  his  own  responsibility  in  connection 
with  it. 

So  the  vision  of  Paul,  penetrating  farther  than  that  of 
the  indifferent  ones  about  him,  gained  a  glimpse  of  the 
glories  of  an  eternal  world,  while  the  possibility  of  heir- 
ship  to  its  blessedness,  through  faith  in  Christ,  dawned 
upon  him  with  all  the  freshness  and  force  of  a  marvelous 
discovery.  Grasping,  as  he  did,  the  mighty  import  of  the 
cross,  it  was  to  him  the  most  stupendous  fact  of  human 
history,  so  that  his  whole  being,  thrilled  with  the  thought, 
was  fired  with  a  consuming  passion  to  make  the  great 
discovery  known  everywhere. 

It  was  this  which  prompted  the  memorable  utterance  in 
his  letter  to  the  Christians  at  Corinth :  "For  I  deter- 
mined not  to  know  anything  among  you,  save  Jesus 
Christ,  and  him  crucified"  (i  Cor.  2:2).  Here  at  Corinth 
he  had  previously  founded  a  flourishing  church.  Distress- 
ing intelligence  had  now  reached  him  of  its  sad  decline 

1 86 


THE    PREACHING    NEEDED  187 

in  spirituality.  The  influence  of  the  surrounding  worldli- 
ness  had  gradually  pervaded  it.  Serious  divisions  had 
arisen.  Evil  practices  were  unrebuked,  while  the  public 
services  had  largely  degenerated  into  mere  occasions  for 
literary  entertainment  and  esthetic  culture.  The  simple 
gospel  which  Paul  had  preached,  and  which  had  been 
demonstrated  to  be  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  had 
been  thrust  into  the  background.  Human  wisdom  and 
speculation,  utterly  devoid  of  moral  energy,  had  been 
allowed  to  supersede  it.  The  prevailing  sentiment  in  the 
church  demanded  this  type  of  preaching.  Paul's  heart 
was  deeply  grieved,  and  in  his  letter  he  probes  the  diffi- 
culty to  the  core,  faithfully  applies  the  principles  of  the 
gospel  as  the  only  remedy,  and  powerfully  exhorts  the 
Corinthians  to  return  to  their  former  loyalty  to  Christ. 
Only  thus  could  they  be  rescued  from  their  spiritual  peril. 
So  strong,  indeed,  was  his  conviction  of  the  gospel's 
transforming  power,  so  grand  his  conception  of  the  results 
it  would  ultimately  achieve  in  the  world,  and  of  such 
transcendent  importance  did  he  esteem  it  that  man  should 
know  of  it  and  be  persuaded  to  receive  it,  that  he  had  been 
led  while  among  them,  as  everywhere,  deliberately 
to  determine  not  to  know  anything,  save  Jesus  Christ 
and  him  crucified.  Doing  this,  he  felt  that  he  was  con- 
secrating his  powers  to  the  loftiest  ends,  and  history  ever 
since  has  been  vindicating  his  conviction. 

The  low  spiritual  state  of  the  church  at  Corinth  finds 
its  counterpart  in  the  condition  of  many  of  our  churches 
to-day.  Wordliness  has  invaded  them.  Piety  is  at  a 
low  ebb.  Divisions  are  not  uncommon.  Activity  is  but 
feebly  developed.  Revivals  are  rare,  conversions  few, 
and  spiritual  dearth  prevails  to  an  alarming  degree.  This 
low  spiritual  condition  is  due,  in  great  part,  to  misconcep- 
tions as  to  the  nature  and  obligations  of  the  ministry.  A 
false  standard  of  preaching  is  set  up,  unreasonable 
demands  are  made  upon  the  pulpit,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
temptation  which  is  placed  before  the  preacher  to  seek 
to  win  favor  by  catering  to  these  requirements. 


POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 


In  this  popular  though  unspiritual  demand,  the  impor- 
tance of  mere  literary,  intellectual,  esthetic,  rhetorical  and 
social  qualities  in  the  preacher  is  unduly  exaggerated,  to 
the  minifying  of  the  "weightier  matters  of  the  law," 
or  to  the  exclusion  of  them  altogether.  Yet,  while  it 
is  of  advantage  that  the  preacher  have  an  attractive  per- 
sonality, that  he  be  as  faultless  as  possible  in  manner  both 
in  public  and  in  private,  that  there  be  no  lack  in  rhetorical 
skill  or  oratorical  ability,  these  qualities,  after  all,  are 
not  the  main  qualification  for  the  preacher's  office.  Valu- 
able and  desirable  as  they  are,  they  are  of  but  secondary 
and  subordinate  importance.  A  preacher  may  possess 
all  of  these  qualities,  and  yet  lack  spiritual  vitality  and 
power.  He  may  be  without  any  clear  grasp  of  the  true 
function  of  the  pulpit,  or  the  nature  of  the  gospel  mes- 
sage. He  may  be  lacking  even  in  character. 

Many  think  that  the  preacher's  message  should  not  be 
of  a  character  to  wound  the  sensitiveness  of  any,  especially 
of  prominent  hearers;  that  it  should  not  dwell  too  point- 
edly upon  sin  and  wrong-doing,  but  deal  with  topics  of 
the  day,  political,  scientific,  literary,  with  just  enough 
reference  to  the  Bible  and  the  things  of  the  Bible  to 
preserve  the  ecclesiastical  standing  of  the  church,  and  to 
retain  the  sympathy  of  the  truly  religious  element  in  it. 

The  erroneous  notion  also  prevails  that  power  and 
ability  in  the  pulpit  are  measured  by  the  amount  of  salary 
a  preacher  can  command;  that  the  true  test  of  one's 
success  and  of  being  "the  man  for  the  place,"  is  ability  to 
"draw,"  and  that  such  ability  covers  a  multitude  of 
deficiencies  in  other  directions.  Too  often,  instead  of 
standing  uncompromisingly  for  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ, 
preachers,  under  pressure  of  these  false  standards  and 
requirements,  are  led  gradually,  perhaps  unconsciously,  to 
conform  to  them,  the  result  of  which  is  to  lower  the 
spiritual  tone  of  the  people  still  more,  and  to  deprive  them 
of  that  which  they  most  sorely  need,  and  which  the 
pulpit  was  designed  to  furnish.  The  radical  difficulty 


THE    PREACHING    NEEDED  189 

in  all  such  cases  is  lack  of  spirituality  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  a  lack  for  which  the  preacher  may  not  be  entirely 
blameless. 

What  is  the  remedy  for  such  a  state  of  things?  In 
view  of  the  fact  that  among  the  various  agencies  for 
molding  the  thought  and  life  of  the  church  the  pulpit 
stands  preeminent,  one  of  the  first  things  needed  for 
the  correction  of  this  low  spiritual  condition,  with  its 
unspiritual  demands  and  its  indifference  to  spiritual 
things,  is  a  new  spirituality  and  power  in  the  pulpit,  d 
fresh  spiritual  baptism  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  called 
to  deliver  the  gospel  message,  so  that,  like  Peter  and  the 
apostles  before  the  Sanhedrin,  they  may  be  able  to  say, 
when  clamorous  demands  are  made  upon  them  by  world- 
ly-minded people,  "We  must  obey  God  rather  than  men/' 

This  leads  us  to  inquire  as  to  some  of  the  things  in 
particular  which  are  needed  in  the  preaching  of  the  times, 
and  which  require  special  emphasis,  to  render  it  in  the 
highest  degree  effective.  In  attempting  to  answer  the 
question,  no  general  and  indiscriminate  disparagement 
of  the  preaching  of  the  times  is  intended.  Far  from  it. 
There  is  a  vast  deal  of  faithful  preaching  by  consecrated 
servants  of  God,  which  is  either  accomplishing  large 
immediate  results,  or  is  sowing  seed  for  future  harvest- 
ing. Yet  with  all  that  is  excellent,  there  is  still  room  for 
improvement  in  not  a  little  of  it. 

i.  First  and  foremost,  the  great  need  in  the  preaching 
of  these,  as  of  all  times,  is  that  it  should  be  clearly,  un- 
equivocally, the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  that  Christ  and 
he  crucified  be  made  central  and  paramount.  This  was 
the  one  all-absorbing  theme  of  apostolic  preaching,  the 
proclamation  of  which,  with  the  wondrous  singleness  of 
aim  which  characterized  it,  was  everywhere  attended  by 
manifestations  of  God's  presence  and  power.  Men  were 
rescued  by  it  from  their  thraldom  to  sin.  They  were 
gradually  made  over  into  the  likeness  of  Christ.  To 
accomplish  this  was  the  supreme  end  for  which  the 


190 


POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 


apostles  were  commissioned  and  anointed,  and  to  do  that 
same  thing  is  the  supreme  business  of  their  spiritual 
successors. 

They  have  not  always  seemed  to  make  it  so,  however, 
as  a  matter  of  fact.  Not  always  have  their  teachings 
kept  closely  to  the  one,  central,  living  theme.  Christ,  in 
his  appropriate  character  and  work,  has  by  many  been  lost 
sight  of,  even  in  pulpits  still  bearing  the  evangelical 
name.  The  great  and  fundamental  doctrines  gathering 
about  and  centering  in  Christ's  person,  the  doctrines 
which  constitute  the  framework  of  all  true  gospel  preach- 
ing, are  rarely  touched  upon,  or  are  kept  entirely  in  the 
background.  For  the  verities  of  the  gospel  are  sub- 
stituted human  traditions  and  vague  speculations,  having 
no  possible  relation  to  the  great  work  of  saving  lost  men, 
and  building  them  up  in  the  Christian  life  and  faith.  A 
thousand  questions  about  Christ  are  discussed,  but  Christ 
himself  is  not  presented.  Christianity  is  glorified  as  a 
system  and  in  its  achievements,  but  Christ  himself  is  not 
made  to  stand  forth  as  the  personal,  present  Saviour 
whom  men  need.  He  is  concealed  rather  than  disclosed. 
Almost  everything  and  everybody  are  pushed  to  the  front, 
save  Jesus  Christ,  when  he  is  the  one  person  most  of  all 
needed,  and  his  gospel  is  the  only  thing  adequate  to  the 
work  to  be  effected.  In  such  circumstances,  is  it  any 
wonder  that  churches  go  into  spiritual  decline,  that  results 
of  preaching  are  meager,  that  revivals  rarely  or  never 
occur,  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  not  more  rapidly  ad- 
vanced ?  Is  it  asked  what  it  is,  what  it  involves,  to  preach 
Christ?  That  is  something  not  easy  to  define.  We  may 
call  to  our  assistance, however, one  whose  words  will  quite 
likely  be  readily  accepted,  and  whose  pulpit  ministrations 
afforded  a  constant  illustration  of  his  definition.  "To 
preach  Christ,"  says  the  late  Dr.  William  M.  Taylor,  of 
New  York,  in  his  Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching,  "involves 
all  that  is  necessary  to  secure  the  twofold  end  of  the  con- 
version of  sinners  and  their  growth  in  character  after- 


THE    PREACHING    NEEDED 

wards,  warning  against  existing  temptation,  inciting  to 
higher  holiness,  and  stimulating  to  the  performance  of 
works  of  faith  and  labors  of  love.  It  is  not  going  aside 
from  the  preacher's  proper  work  as  an  ambassador  of 
Christ  to  expose  some  social  evil  and  unfold  the  remedy 
by  which  alone  it  can  be  removed.  Paul  did  not  mean 
to  say  that  every  time  he  opened  his  lips  he  would  tell 
over  again  the  story  of  the  cross,  but  rather  that,  as  a 
means  of  saving  men,  he  would  set  nothing  else  before 
them  than  Christ  and  him  crucified.  The  gospel 
as  he  preached  it  was  far-reaching  enough  In 
its  application  to  touch  the  conduct  and  experience  of  men 
at  every  point.  The  cross,  as  he  used  it,  was  an  instru- 
ment of  the  widest  range  and  the  greatest  power. 

"When,  therefore/''  he  continues,  UI  insist  that  you,  like 
him,  should  'preach  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified/'  I  do 
not  mean  to  make  the  pulpit  for  you  a  battery  of  such  a 
natttre  that  the  guns  upon  it  can  strike  only  such  vessels 
as  happen  to  pass  immediately  in  front  of  its  embrasures. 
On  the  contrary,  I  turn  it  for  you  into  a  tower,  whereon  is 
mounted  a  swivel-cannon,  which  can  sweep  the  whole 
horizon  of  human  life  and  strike  down  all  immorality  and 
ungodliness  and  selfishness  and  sin.  I  do  not  shut 
you  into  a  small  chamber  having  but  one  outlook,  and  even 
that  into  a  narrow  court;  but  I  place  you  in  an  observ- 
atory, with  a  revolving  telescope  that  can  command  the 
landscape  round  and  round,  and  sweep,  besides,  the 
hemisphere  of  the  stars.  I  do  not  mean  that  you  should 
keep  continually  repeating  the  words  of  'the  faithful  say- 
ing/ like  a  parrot  cry,  until  every  particle  of  meaning  has 
dropped  out  of  them,  but  rather  that  you  should  make 
application  of  the  great  principles  that  lie  beneath  the 
cross  to  the  ever-varying  circumstances  and  occurrences 
of  life,  and  that  in  such  a  way  as  at  once  to  succor  the 
Christian,  and  arrest  and  convert  the  sinner.  I  do  not 
mean  that  you  should  disdain  the  aids  of  literature,  or 
refuse  to  use  such  illustrations  as  science  may  supply,  but 


POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 


rather  that,  while  employing  all  these,  you  should  make 
them  always  subservient  to  this  central  theme,  and  ever 
turn  their  light  upon  the  Master's  face.  I  do  not  mean 
that  you  should  decline  to  venture  with  your  hearers  for 
a  voyage  over  the  ocean  of  truth,  but  rather  that,  while 
sailing  forth,  you  should  be  careful  still  to  have  your  first 
parallel  of  longitude  passing  through  Calvary,  that  so  you 
may  judge  of  all  things  else  by  their  relation  to  the  cross, 
and  that,  ever  as  you  have  opportunity,  you  should  beseech 
sinners  to  be  reconciled  to  God."' 

Such  a  definition  as  this  is  certainly  broad  enough  for 
any  one  consecrated  to  the  high  ends  of  the  Christian 
ministry,  affording  ample  scope  for  any  sanctified  am- 
bition, at  the  same  time  precluding  nothing  of  freshness, 
variety,  timeliness,  in  his  public  ministration. 

But  is  not  this  a  progressive  age,  are  not  the  times  pecu- 
liar, and  are  not  certain  modifications  of  the  subject- 
matter  of  preaching  needed,  that  the  pulpit  may  keep 
abreast  of  advancing  civilization  and  progressive  culture 
of  the  times  ?  This  is  a  progressive  age,  and  we  glory  in 
its  civilization  and  in  everything  which  in  it  is  really 
promotive  of  man's  highest  interests.  But  some  things 
remain  unchanged.  Human  nature  is  still  the  same. 
The  natural  heart  is  the  same  corrupt,  sinful  thing  which 
it  has  ever  been.  It  is  still  enmity  against  God.  In  the 
olden  time,  the  masses  of  men  were  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins.  All  had  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of 
God.  In  the  present  time  men  are  no  whit  different  in 
this  respect.  All  the  ills  and  woes  of  society  now,  as 
always,  are  but  the  external  manifestations  of  the  one 
underlying  disease  of  sin.  These  symptoms  can  be 
removed  only  as  sin  is  eradicated  from  the  human  heart. 
Neither  education,  culture,  civilization,  nor  anything  else 
of  human  origin  has  ever  been  able  to  do  this.  The  only 
remedy  is  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  was  demon- 
strated to  be  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  in  Paul's 
time,  and  it  is  the  only  effective  remedy  to-day.  Hence 


THE    PREACHING    NEEDED  193 

there  is  need  of  the  same  old  gospel,  the  same  unchanging. 
Christ  to-day  as  of  old.  There  is  no  change  in  this  re- 
spect. There  may  be  improved  methods  of  presenting 
this  gospel,  improved  forms  of  statement,  the  old  faith 
may  be  set  in  new  lights,  but  the  gospel  itself,  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  him  crucified,  has  not  changed,  will  not  change, 
nor  has  the  need  of  it  passed  by  or  lessened  in  a  single 
degree.  If  Paul  were  to  appear  among  men  to-day,  he 
would  declare  the  same  gospel  that  he  did  eighteen  hun- 
dred years  ago.  He  might  alter  his  style  of  address  to 
adapt  it  to  changed  circumstances,  but  he  would  not  alter 
the  substance  of  his  message.  He  would  find  a  different 
civilization,  but  he  would  also  find  the  same  corrupt  hu- 
man nature,  needing  the  same  gospel  remedy  for  its 
redemption. 

The  gospel  of  Christ  is  the  only  adequate  agency  ever 
made  known  for  human  salvation.  Consciously  or  un- 
consciously, men  are  everywhere  hungering  for  it,  and 
this  far  more  than  we  are  wont  to  realize.  There  are 
many  everywhere  the  language  of  whose  hearts  is,  "Sir, 
we  would  see  Jesus,"  and  too  often  they  are  not  permitted 
to  see  him.  There  is  profound  truth  in  what  some  one 
has  said,  that  if  Christ  were  really  held  up  to  men  in  all 
his  moral  beauty,  his  tender  love,  his  power  to  save,  as  he 
is  actually  represented  in  the  Word  of  God,  multitudes 
would  be  attracted  to  him  who  are  now  repelled  by  the 
caricatures  they  behold.  How  many  Christians  even, 
burdened,  weighed  down  with  sore  trial,  and  longing  for 
a  view  of  the  Christ  they  love,  go  to  the  sanctuary  only  to 
be  disappointed?  Instead  of  the  bread  they  crave,  they 
are  presented  with  a  philosophical  disquisition  in  regard 
to  its  nature;  instead  of  the  healing  balm,  an  essay  upon 
its  aromatic  qualities.  Of  the  preaching  of  too  many  the 
fatal  criticism  would  be  none  too  severe;  "They  have 
taken  away  my  Lord,  and  I  know  not  where  they  have 
laid  him." 

While  the  preaching  of  some  other  gospel — literary, 


XIII 


I94 


POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 


esthetic,  scientific,  which  is  yet  not  a  gospel — may  gather 
and  hold  the  masses  for  a  time,  only  the  preaching  of 
Christ  and  him  crucified  has  power  to  save.  The  truth 
as  it  is  in  Christ  is  the  only  truth  that  converts  and 
sanctifies,  while  the  faithful  presentation  of  this  simple 
gospel  in  plain,  every-day  language,  freed  from  the  tech- 
nicalities of  the  schools,  amazingly  clarifies  the  whole 
subject  of  theology  and  of  practical  religion  to  bewildered 
multitudes  who  are  waiting  to  be  rescued  and  saved. 

2.  But  not  only  is  there  need  of  a  more  faithful  pre- 
sentation of  the  simple  gospel  of  Christ  and  him  crucified; 
a  second  need  in  the  preaching  of  the  times  is  that  it  be 
more  distinctively  Biblical.  More  Bible  is  one  of  the 
great  needs  of  to-day. 

The  Scriptures  testify  of  Christ.  The  Old  Testament 
points  to  him  constantly  through  prophecy  and  symbol; 
the  New  Testament  sets  him  forth  as  he  actually  appeared 
in  the  flesh.  He  is  the  central  figure  from  beginning  to 
end,  while  so  inseparably  connected  are  the  written  and 
the  incarnate  Word  that  Christ  is  most  effectually  pre- 
sented when  the  Scriptures  are  most  faithfully  unfolded. 

And  when  we  speak  of  the  Scriptures,  we  mean  the 
Scriptures  entire,  the  Old  and  the  New.  There  is  a 
tendency  with  some  to  disparage  the  former,  to  regard  it, 
or  some  portions  of  it,  as  obsolete  or  becoming  so.  It  is 
a  noticeable  and  significant  fact,  however,  that  there  is 
least  of  this  tendency  where  scholarship  is  most  spiritual 
and  profound.  Neither  Testament  can  be  fully  appre- 
ciated or  understood  without  the  other,  for  it  is  still  true, 
as  Augustine  said  centuries  ago,  that  "the  New  Testament 
is  enfolded  in  the  Old,  and  the  Old  Testament  is  unfolded 
in  the  New/'  The  words  of  the  Old  Testament  were 
constantly  in  Christ's  mouth;  to  them  he  con- 
stantly appealed.  This  was  the  armory  whence  he 
drew  the  weapons  with  which  to  parry  the  subtle  assaults 
of  the  tempter.  From  the  same  source  Peter  drew 
material  for  his  Pentecostal  sermon,  Stephen  for  his  mag- 


THE    PREACHING    NEEDED 


nificent  defence,  Paul  for  his  matchless  arguments. 
While  Christ  was  the  one  transcendent  theme  of  the 
apostles'  preaching,  it  was  still  a  constant  characteristic 
of  them  that  they  "reasoned  from  the  scriptures."  It 
was  this  which  gave  their  preaching  such  authority  and 
power.  In  such  circumstances,  does  not  this  disposition 
to  disparage  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  savor  slightly, 
to  say  the  least,  of  presumption  ? 

No  feature  of  the  preaching  of  the  successful  evan- 
gelists of  the  world  has  been  more  prominent  than  this, 
its  thoroughly  Biblical  character;  and  that  preaching 
to-day  which  is  most  squarely  based  upon  the  Bible  and 
which  most  faithfully  unfolds  and  enforces  the  Word, 
other  things  being  equal,  will  most  effectively  present 
Christ,  and  do  the  largest  execution. 

How  different,  how  weak,  in  comparison,  how  shorn 
of  spiritual  power,  is  that  preaching  which  is  made  up  of 
speculations  which  have  no  solid  foundation  in  the  Word 
of  God,  and  which  has  no  relation  whatever  to  actual  life 
and  its  needs;  which  seems  more  intent  upon  displaying 
the  intellectual  and  literary  accomplishments  of  the 
preacher  than  in  holding  up  Christ  for  the  acceptance  of 
dying  men;  which  is  apparently  more  concerned  to 
devise  some  new  and  easier  method  of  salvation,  less 
humiliating  to  human  pride,  than  to  make  known 
the  one  and  only  way  disclosed  in  the  Scrip- 
tures; which  seems  to  delight  in  slaying  scientific 
or  other  giants,  harmless  if  let  alone,  or  in  battering 
down  crude  forms  of  belief  of  generations  ago,  which 
trouble  very  few  people  now,  or  in  parading  the 
preacher's  looseness  of  views,  or  in  straining  obscure 
passages  into  the  support  of  some  favorite  but  clearly 
unbiblical  theory,  rather  than  in  ringing  out  the  great, 
positive,  fundamental  doctrines  of  Scripture,  which  are 
essential  to  salvation,  and  in  trying  to  persuade  men  to 
turn  from  their  evil  ways  and  live  ! 

Such  preaching  does  not  —  how  can  it?  —  take  hold  upon 


196  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 

the  conscience.  It  does  not,  it  cannot,  save  from  sin  and 
build  men  up  in  righteous  character.  For  the  accom- 
plishment of  these  ends,  no  substitute  for  the  preaching  of 
the  Word  has  ever  been  found.  It  is  something  which 
commends  itself  to  the  inmost  spirit  of  the  listener,  even 
though  it  may  clash  with  his  actual  life.  It  is  divinely 
adapted  to  his  profoundest  wants,  and  is  the  natural  food 
for  the  spiritual  life.  If,  therefore,  the  faith  of  Christian 
people  is  to  be  strong  and  vigorous,  and  Christian  living 
is  to  be  pure  and  holy,  abounding  in  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit,  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ,  and  as  it  is  set  forth  in 
his  Word,  must  nourish  and  sustain  them. 

Said  a  Christian  man  recently,  a  scholar  whose  ex- 
perience and  standing  give  weight  to  his  words :  "The 
leading  defect  of  the  modern  sermon  is  that  it  fails  to 
unfold  the  Scriptures  and  enforce  its  truths  for  the  salva- 
tion and  sanctification  of  souls."  Said  another,  "I  wish 
you  ministers  would  give  us  more  Bible  in  your  preaching, 
more  of  it,  not  necessarily  in  the  old  form  of  verse  by 
verse  exposition,  although  more  of  that  might  be  helpful, 
but  still  following  out  in  some  large  way  the  expository 
idea,  something  as  Drs.  Taylor,  Hall  and  Meredith,  of 
New  York  City,  have  done  so  successfully,  and  thus  bring 
our  minds  into  direct  contact  with  larger  consecutive 
portions  of  the  quickening,  nourishing  Word."  These 
are  very  suggestive  remarks,  the  one  vitally  but  perhaps 
not  too  severely  critical,  the  other  voicing  a  want  felt 
by  many,  and  hinting  at  a  practical  method  of  meeting  it. 

What  is  wanted  on  our  part  is  more  of  the  spirit  and 
purpose  of  Dr.  Todd,  who,  in  accepting  his  call  to  the  first 
church  under  his  care  wrote :  "In  my  preaching  I  shall 
keep  closely  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  by  this  I  would 
have  you  test  my  instructions."  This  ought  to  be 
recognized  as  the  true  test  of  preaching  to-day.  The 
truly  consecrated  preacher  can  ask  no  broader  foundation 
on  which  to  stand  than  that  which  has  been  laid  by 
"apostles  and  prophets,  Christ  Jesus  himself  being  the 
chief  corner  stone." 


THE    PREACHING    NEEDED 


I97 


It  is  said  that  after  certain  excavations  and  the  clearing 
away  of  the  rubbish  of  ages  at  Pompeii,  a  spring  of  pure 
water,  which  had  been  choked  for  centuries,  began  to 
flow  again.  In  the  Middle  Ages,  because  the  Word  of 
God  had  been  buried  out  of  sight  under  the  mass  of 
scholastic  and  monkish  rubbish,  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
Church  was  well-nigh  crushed  out.  The  gospel  stream 
flowing  from  it  had  been  completely  choked.  The  Re- 
formation of  Luther  was  a  return  to  the  purity  of  the 
Word  through  a  vigorous  clearing  away  of  this  ecclesias- 
tical rubbish.  Then  the  spiritual  life  of  Christendom 
began  to  revive.  There  is  danger  that  this  gospel 
stream,  flowing  from  the  Word  of  God,  be  again  choked, 
and  the  thirsty  earth  deprived  of  its  refreshing  waters  in 
this  age  of  worldly  conformity,  of  a  subtly  pervasive, 
rationalistic  spirit,  of  new  departures  and  bold  specula- 
tions. It  is  our  mission  to  see  that  the  course  of  this 
gospel  stream  be  kept  clear,  its  waters  wholesome  and 
pure,  by  thrusting  aside  all  the  rubbish  of  those  obstruct- 
ing and  stagnating  influences  which  would  hinder  its 
progress  or  neutralize  its  healing  properties.  There  is 
crying  need  in  many  pulpits  to-day  of  a  "new  departure," 
a  return  to  the  simple  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified,  preached  according  to  the  Scriptures. 

Then,  too,  when  preaching  becomes  more  Biblical,  the 
Word  entering  more  fully  into  the  warp  and  woof  of  it, 
or  in  proportion  as  it  is  so,  the  fundamental  facts  and 
doctrines  of  the  Word  of  God  will  be  made  to  stand  out 
in  bolder  relief,  and  to  maintain  their  relative  prominence 
somewhat  as  they  do  there.  Then  the  awful,  sad  fact  of 
sin,  upon  which  the  need  of  the  gospel  for  any  one  is 
based,  will  not  be  slurred  over,  or  presented,  as  too  often 
now,  in  a  faint  and  timid  undertone.  Whether  men 
like  or  dislike  to  hear  it,  the  mighty  fact  of  the  atonement, 
by  which  salvation  is  made  possible,  will  not  be  kept  in 
the  background.  The  necessity  of  repentance  will  be 
emphasized  as  its  great  importance  demands,  and  this,  too, 


198  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

without  hint  or  suggestion  of  any  possible  probation  be- 
yond this  life.  These  doctrines,  with  constant  emphasis 
upon  righteousness  in  daily  living  as  the  true  test  of 
Christian  character,  will  be  made  to  appear  as  the  vitally 
essential  truths  which  they  really  are. 

Paul  exhorted  Timothy  to  "preach  the  word."  The 
same  exhortation  comes  ringing  down  the  centuries  to 
the  Christian  ministry  to-day.  Preach  the  Word,  preach 
it  faithfully,  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New,  for  thus 
will  the  crucified  Christ  be  preached  in  the  most  effective 
way. 

3.  A  third  need  in  much  of  the  preaching  of  the 
times  is  more  positiveness.  The  times  require  not  only 
more  of  Christ  and  him  crucified,  presented  in  a  more 
Biblical  way,  but  that  the  preacher  be  more  positive  and 
pronounced  in  his  utterances.  The  fundamental  idea  of 
preaching,  indeed,  is  declaring,  declaring  something 
definite,  heralding  a  very  positive  message,  given 
on  the  authority  of  God,  as,  for  instance,  when 
he  said  to  Jonah :  "Go  unto  Nineveh  .  .  .  and 
preach  unto  it  the  preaching  that  I  bid  thee."  So 
the  apostles  understood  their  commission  from  Christ, 
and  so  they  proclaimed  their  message.  There 
was  nothing  indefinite  about  it,  it  gave  forth  no 
uncertain  sound.  There  is  no  lack  of  positiveness  or 
clear  ringing  certainty  in  Paul's  words  when  he  said :  "I 
determined  not  to  know  anything  among  you,  save  Jesus 
Christ,  and  him  crucified,"  or  in  any  other  of  his  recorded 
utterances  on  the  theme  which  filled  his  soul.  We  know 
the  results  of  such  preaching.  Converts,  in  like  manner 
positive  and  pronounced,  were  multiplied;  believers  were 
confirmed  in  the  faith :  churches  were  established,  and  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  was  everywhere  advanced.  If  there 
was  wavering  or  lapsing  afterward  on  the  part  of  any,  it 
was  due  to  other  influences  than  the  apostolic  preaching. 

How  marked  the  contrast  in  much  of  the  preaching  of 
to-day!  The  notion  of  many  seems  to  be  that  vague- 


THE    PREACHING    NEEDED 

ness  is  a  prime  excellence  in  a  sermon.  They  are  always 
dealing  with  the  indefinite,  speculating  about  the  things 
that  are  not  known,  rather  than  setting  forth  the  positive 
things  which  it  is  their  mission  to  declare.  As  a  dis- 
tinguished divine  has  said:  "The  sermons  of  many 
preachers  have  degenerated  into  soft,  molluscous  and 
plastic  things  which  may  be  squeezed  by  the  hearer  into 
any  shape,  or  turned  by  him  in  any  direction."  There  is 
little  of  the  apostolic  ring  in  what  is  said.  Said  a  de- 
voted Christian  man  of  his  pastor :  "I  never  heard  him 
make  a  positive  assertion  in  regard  to  vital  religious 
truth,  or,  if  he  did,  he  qualified  it  in  such  a  way,  before  he 
was  through,  that  it  really  amounted  to  nothing."  Un- 
fortunately, not  a  little  modern  preaching  is  open  to 
similar  criticism.  There  is  no  grip  to  it.  Proceeding 
from  no  profound  conviction,  it  makes  no  profound  im- 
pression. There  seems  to  be  nothing  really  settled  or 
certain  in  it.  It  does  not  move  men  to  action.  It  is  an 
utter  failure  in  so  far  as  the  true  ends  of  the  pulpit  are 
concerned. 

The  results  of  such  preaching  are  painful  to  contem- 
plate. The  people  catch  the  spirit  of  the  preacher's 
uncertainty,  his  speculations  become  their  dogmas,  his 
doubts,  expressed  or  only  suggested,  develop  doubts  in 
their  minds.  Their  faith  is  undetermined,  spiritual  life 
stagnates,  and  unless  there  be  sufficient  spiritual  vitality 
in  the  members  of  the  church  to  resist  the  baneful  in- 
fluence, it  becomes  dead,  dead,  dead. 

The  causes  of  all  this  are  various.  Some  have  failed 
to  perceive  the  true  function  of  the  pulpit,  which  is  to 
declare  the  positive  gospel  of  Christ  and  him  crucified, 
rather  than  mere  human  speculations  or  secular  lore,  or  a 
mass  of  uninspiring  negations.  The  difficulty  with 
others  is  the  radical  one  of  a  lack  of  real  conviction  in 
regard  to  the  things  of  Christ  and  his  Word.  They  are 
not  fully  persuaded  in  their  own  minds.  The  Word  of 
God  is  not  really  authoritative  to  them,  the  teachings  of 


200  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

Christ  are  not  absolutely  final.  Their  creeds  abound  in 
interrogation-points,  or  are  made  up  mainly  of  negations, 
the  things  they  do  not  believe  rather  than  the  things  they 
positively  hold;  or  if  they  have  any  positive  convictions, 
there  is  lack  of  courage  to  make  them  known,  a  shrinking 
from  collision  with  the  subtle,  skeptical  spirit  of  the  times, 
or  a  fear  that  somebody  may  be  offended  if  they  speak  out. 
Or  they  yield  to  a  popular  clamor  for  a  modified,  diluted, 
easy-going  gospel,  temporizing  and  shifting  according  to 
the  popular  breeze,  until  ultimately,  very  likely,  they  lose, 
as  they  deserve  to  lose,  the  respect  of  the  very  persons 
they  seek  to  please  or  are  so  careful  not  to  offend. 

What  is  needed  is  first  of  all  a  more  profound  con- 
viction in  regard  to  revealed  truth  and  the  things  of 
Christ,  and  then  courage  to  make  it  known.  No  minister 
can  properly  do  his  work  unless  thoroughly  possessed  of 
and  pervaded  by  the  truths  he  is  set  to  declare.  If  his 
mind  waver,  for  instance,  as  to  the  absolute  necessity  of 
the  gospel  for  salvation;  if  he  is  not  clear  that  men  with- 
out it  are  in  imminent  peril;  if  he  is  undecided  as  to 
whether  the  present  life  is  the  only  period  of  probation, 
it  will  be  impossible  for  him  to  preach  with  real  effective- 
ness or  to  lead  men  to  ask  what  they  must  do  to  be  saved. 
The  preachers  who  have  made  their  influence  most  felt 
for  Christ,  who  have  done  most  toward  building  up  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom  in  their  day  and  generation,  have 
always  been  men  of  pronounced  conviction  as  to  the  cer- 
tainty of  the  things  given  them  to  declare,  and  these 
things  they  have  declared  with  all  their  might.  The 
prophets  were  well-nigh  terrible  in  their  absorbing  con- 
viction of  the  majesty  and  truth  of  their  message.  The 
apostles  thoroughly  believed  what  they  proclaimed. 
They  bore  witness  to  the  things  they  knew.  What 
would  Luther  and  Knox  and  other  reformers,  and  such 
men  as  the  Wesleys,  Nettleton,  Finney,  Moody  of  our 
time,  and  a  host  of  others,  have  accomplished  without 
this  profound  conviction,  and  without  the  positiveness  of 


THE    PREACHING    NEEDED  2OI 

utterance  and  action  naturally  growing  out  of  it  ?  Their 
energy,  heroism  and  success  were  the  natural  outgrowth 
of  their  positive  faith.  Their  creeds  were  positive  creeds, 
and  their  earnestness  was  contagious.  The  fact  is,  the 
Christian  pulpit  has  no  business  to  be  otherwise  than  posi- 
tive. It  is  no  place  for  negations  and  obscurations.  Its 
mission  is  to  declare  "the  everlasting  Yea."  No  con- 
viction in  regard  to  these  things  means  no  power,  for  no 
one  can  communicate  profound  impulse  to  other  souls 
unless  his  own  be  first  filled  with  it.  What  is  wanted 
is  more  of  the  Pauline  "we  know/'  "we  also  believe,  and 
therefore  also  we  speak;"  more  positive  apprehension 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  preacher's  own  ex- 
perience; a  faith  which  really  grasps  him;  a  thorough 
conviction  that  the  gospel  is  the  power  of  God,  and  the 
only  power,  unto  salvation;  that  "neither  is  there  any 
other  name  under  heaven,  that  is  given  among  men, 
wherein  we  must  be  saved;"  a  burning  desire  to 
proclaim  the  gospel  for  the  salvation  of  men  and  for 
their  upbuilding  in  the  faith.  Then  something  in  the 
way  of  positive  results  will  be  accomplished.  A  noted 
servant  of  God  was  once  asked  by  a  young  preacher  what 
he  should  do  when  he  came  before  his  people.  "Do?" 
replied  the  leader  of  a  hundred  revivals,  "Do?  Make 
the  sparks  fly."  The  man  of  conviction  will  make  him- 
self felt  wherever  he  is.  Nor  will  he  be  likely  to  wander 
very  far  from  the  true  mission  of  the  pulpit  when  once  he 
gets  into  it.  He  will  not  feel  burdened  to  instruct  the 
people  in  all  the  latest  phases  of  scientific  development,  or 
theological  vagaries  as  to  how  men  may  possibly  escape  if 
they  neglect  so  great  salvation  in  this  life,  or  anything  of 
that  sort.  No!  his  one  absorbing  aim,  underlying  and 
overreaching  all  things  else,  will  be  to  preach  the  positive, 
everlasting  truth. 

Such  preaching  as  this,  positive,  pronounced,  in  regard 
to  things  positively  and  unmistakably  declared,  would  im- 
part new  power  to  many  a  pulpit.  It  would  revive  the 


202  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

spiritual  life  of  many  a  languishing  congregation,  it  would 
most  effectively  meet  existing  evils,  and  do  more  to  clear 
the  atmosphere  of  the  subtle,  skeptical  malaria  which 
pervades  it,  than  any  other  means  that  might  be  employed. 
Not  many  years  ago,  a  young  preacher  began  work  in  a 
community  which  had  been  almost  literally  honeycombed 
with  infidel  teachings.  One  day  a  leading  infidel  ac- 
costed him  on  the  street  and  sought  to  draw  him  into  an 
argument  about  the  Scriptures.  Said  the  young 

preacher :  "Mr. ,  I  did  not  come  into  this  community 

to  defend  the  Word  of  God,  I  came  to  declare  it.  It  is 
its  own  best  defence."  And  the  more  skeptical  criticism 
he  heard,  the  more  earnestly  and  emphatically  he  laid 
down  the  positive  truths  of  the  gospel.  A  powerful  re- 
vival soon  sprang  up,  and  among  the  large  numbers 
converted,  not  a  few  of  the  infidels  were  included. 
Lyman  Beecher  once  went  into  a  community  where  he 
was  surrounded  by  the  influences  of  French  infidelity. 
The  leading  men  in  the  community  were  infidels.  Said 
he,  "I  did  not  undertake  to  argue  with  them.  I  preached 
one  or  two  great  sermons,  to  show  them  that  I  had  big 
guns  and  was  not  afraid  of  them.  After  that  I  preached 
right  to  their  consciences,  and  the  result  was  that  a 
great  revival  of  religion  came  up  there,  and  after  that  I 
never  heard  anything  about  infidelity." 

But  not  only  is  this  positive  preaching  adapted  to  the 
work;  it  is  what  multitudes  are  really  hungering  for.  It 
is  not  what  the  Scriptures  do  not  teach,  not  what  they 
may  possibly  be  construed  to  teach,  not  what  they  do  not 
hinder  one  from  holding,  but  what  they  actually  and  posi- 
tively do  teach.  How  often  such  expressions  as  this  are 
heard :  "I  am  tired  of  hearing  what  our  pastor  does 
not  believe,  his  doubts,  his  speculations,  and  uncertain- 
ties in  religion.  I  want  to  know  what  he  does  believe,  or 
rather  what  the  Word  of  God  authorizes  me  to  believe, 
what  the  certainties  of  religion  are."  This  is  the  lan- 
guage of  many  a  longing  heart  to-day.  If  one  has 


THE    PREACHING    NEEDED  203 

nothing  definite  to  say  in  regard  to  these  things,  it  would 
be  better  for  him  never  to  enter  the  pulpit,  or  at  once  to 
leave  it,  if  already  in  it. 

4.  But,  lastly,  the  crowning  need  of  the  preaching  of 
the  times,  to  render  it  in  the  highest  degree  effective,  is  a 
more  thorough  anointing  or  enduement  with  power  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  on  the  part  of  the  preachers,  to  qualify  them 
for  the  work  they  are  called  to  perform.  There  is 
urgent  need  of  more  distinctive  preaching  of  Christ  and 
him  crucified,  of  a  more  faithful  unfolding  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  of  more  of  the  positiveness  of  profound  con- 
viction in  declaring  the  truth.  Yet,  unless  the  preacher's 
heart  be  on  fire  with  love  for  Christ  and  for  souls,  unless 
he  be  girded  and  energized  by  the  divine  Spirit  as  a  final 
preparation  for  his  mission,  his  preaching  will  be  feeble 
and  barren  of  spiritual  results. 

That  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  divine  anointing  or  bap- 
tism of  the  Spirit  is  one  of  the  clearest  teachings  of  the 
Scriptures.  It  was  this  which  gave  the  apostles  their 
marvelous  power  over  men.  It  was  this  which  gave 
them  their  clear  insight  into  spiritual  truth,  and  enabled 
them  to  understand  the  things  of  Christ  as  they  did  not 
and  could  not  before.  It  was  this  which  led  them  to 
realize  the  momentousness  of  their  mission,  the  value  of 
an  immortal  soul,  the  importance  of  its  salvation.  It 
was  the  Spirit  coming  upon  them  in  power  at  Pentecost 
in  answer  to  their  united  prayers,  which  transformed 
them,  made  them  men  of  mighty  faith  and  courage, 
enabled  them  to  speak  the  Word  "with  all  boldness." 
Peter,  who  had  previously  quailed  before  the  simple 
inquiry  of  a  maid  servant,  could  now  stand  before  assem- 
bled thousands  and  boldly  charge  them  with  the  murder 
of  the  Son  of  God,  and  press  home  the  truth  with  such 
convincing  power  that  three  thousand  of  them  were  smit- 
ten with  conviction  and  led  to  give  themselves  in  loyal 
allegiance  to  the  crucified  but  now  risen  and  ascended 
One  whom  they  had  before  despised.  He  could  stand 


204 


POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 


before  the  hostile  Jewish  authorities  and  declare  his  pur- 
pose to  "obey  God  rather  than  men."  It  was  this  which 
nerved  the  apostles  for  their  life-work  of  suffering  and 
sacrifice  for  the  Master.  It  was  this  that  transformed 
Saul,  the  persecutor  of  the  saints,  into  Paul,  the  mighty 
champion  of  the  very  truth  he  had  resisted;  it  was  this 
that  sustained  him  through  all  his  imprisonments  and 
scourgings  as  he  went  forth  determined  to  know  only 
Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified.  No  one  can  read  the 
Word  of  God  without  recognizing  the  fact  of  a  divine 
anointing,  or  enduement  with  power  from  on  high,  in  the 
final  preparation  of  the  apostles  for  their  work  of  preach- 
ing the  gospel,  while  the  possibility  of  a  similar  spiritual 
baptism,  in  kind  if  not  in  degree,  for  God's  servants  in 
every  age,  has  been  the  conviction  and  more  or  less  the 
experience  of  the  most  successful  winners  of  souls  ever 
since.  To  this  they  uniformly  attribute  their  success. 
It  was  the  Spirit  of  God,  given  in  answer  to  their  earnest 
prayers,  working  in  and  through  them,  energizing  their 
minds,  attending  the  truth  to  the  hearts  and  consciences 
of  those  who  heard,  which  wrought  so  powerfully  for 
their  conviction,  conversion  and  upbuilding  in  the  faith. 
In  the  light  of  all  this,  and  of  our  own  experience  at  times, 
will  any  one  venture  to  affirm  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  spiritual  baptism,  a  divine  enduement  with  power  for 
God's  servants  to-day,  or  that  the  possibility  of  it  is 
entirely  a  thing  of  the  past  ? 

At  an  important  denominational  assemblage  at  Oberlin, 
Ohio,  in  1871,  the  venerable  ex-President  Finney  gave 
an  address  by  invitation — the  whole  audience  rising  spon- 
taneously as  he  appeared  before  them — on  the  need  of 
enduement  with  power  from  on  high  for  God's  minister- 
ing servants.  The  following  Sabbath,  in  response  to  a 
general  desire  that  they  might  hear  him  further  in  regard 
to  these  things,  he  preached  at  length  in  the  great  First 
Church.  All  hearts  were  swayed  by  the  manifest  pres- 
ence and  power  of  the  Spirit,  as  the  wind  sways  the  tree- 


R  A 


PREACHING    NEEDED 


tops  of  the  forest.     No  one  who  heard  him  could  dou 

the  reality  or  the  possibility  of  such  an  enduement,  or 

the  high  privilege  and  the  obligation  of  the  Christian 

ministry  to  seek  it,  and  that,  too,  in  far  larger  measure 

than  is  usually  recognized  or  experienced.     What  loyal 

servant  of  Christ,  indeed,  does  not  recognize  this  need  for 

himself  continually?     That  this  is  one  of  the  paramount 

needs  in  the  preaching  of  the  times  may  more  fully  appear 

as   we   listen   to    some   of   the   current   criticism   upon 

it.        Of    one    preacher    it    was    said:      "His    thought 

is     clear,     his     theology     appears     to     be     sound,     his 

sermons    are    scholarly,    he    says    many    good    things, 

but     his     preaching     lacks     power."         Of     another: 

"His    preaching    does    not    take    hold."       Of    another: 

"He  does  not  preach  as  if  he  more  than  half  believed 

what  he  says."      Of  another:    "He  seems  to  be  satisfied 

with  other  successes  than  those  of  saving  souls  and  of 

building  up  a  sanctified  church."       Of  another:   "He 

acts  as  if  uneasy,  unsettled,   seems  to  be  all  the  time 

praying,  'Lord,  grant  that  I  may  sit  at  thy  right  hand,  or 

at  thy  left,  in  some  great,  influential,  desirable,  large- 

salaried  church,'  conveying  the  impression  that  he  is  more 

intent  on  self  -advancement  than  upon  building  up  the 

kingdom."     Of  another  :  "His  sermons  have  no  point,  no 

well-defined  aim.     They  appear  to  be  prepared  much  as 

it  is  said  they  build  ships  down  in  Maine,  constructing 

them  by  the  mile.     When  an  order  is  received,  they  cut 

off  so  much,  round  it  off  at  the  bow  and  stern  and  send 

it  off."     Of  another  :  "He  seems  to  have  no  courage,  no 

grit;  never  comes  out  decidedly  on  temperance,  the  Sun- 

day question,  or  anything  else  involving  opposition  to  the 

popular  current." 

These  criticisms  are  frequently  made  by  intelligent 
laymen,  not  upon  all  preaching,  far  from  that,  but  upon 
altogether  too  much  of  it.  In  general,  the  difficulty  may 
be  summed  up  as  a  lack  of  the  spirit  of  self-renuncia- 
tion, the  lack  of  conviction,  the  lack  of  courage, 


2o6  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

and  especially  the  lack  of  power  on  the  part 
of  the  ministry.  There  is  a  lack  of  just  those 
elements  which  the  Spirit  of  God  is  able  to  supply  and 
does  supply  when  one  is  prepared  to  receive  them.  One 
may  be  never  so  scholarly,  able,  brilliant,  never  so  attract- 
ive as  an  orator,  yet  without  this  crowning  qualification 
by  the  Spirit,  his  preaching,  in  so  far  as  the  true  aim  of 
preaching  is  concerned,  will  be  an  utter  failure.  It  may 
instruct  in  science,  literature,  philosophy,  art,  but  it  will 
never  save  souls  or  build  up  the  kingdom.  The  incident 
is  told  of  a  distinguished  divine  of  Scotland  who,  at  the 
railway  station  one  day,  after  becoming  weary  with  wait- 
ing for  the  train  to  move,  asked  one  of  the  men,  "Is 
there  want  of  water?"  "Plenty  of  water,  sir,"  was  the 
reply,  "but  it's  no  bilin'."  The  main  difficulty  with  much 
of  the  preaching  of  the  times  is  not  lack  of  ability,  or 
culture,  or  scholarship;  the  trouble  is,  "it's  no  bilin'." 

The  vital  inquiry  is,  How  may  one  secure  the  great 
boon  of  a  divine  anointing  or  enduement  with  power  in 
larger  measure  than  most  possess  it  ? 

First,  more  faith  is  needed  in  the  Spirit,  in  his  divine 
personality,  in  his  office  and  work,  one  part  of  which 
is  to  do  the  very  thing  of  which  we  have  been  speaking. 
The  unbelief  which  prevails  on  this  subject  is  surprising. 
Second,  self-renunciation.  Worldly  ambition  and  a 
divine  enduement  with  power  cannot  coexist  in  the  same 
soul.  Self  must  be  trampled  under  foot,  heart  and  life 
must  be  consecrated  to  the  one  exalted  aim,  as 
with  Paul;  all  things  else  must  be  made  entirely 
secondary  and  subordinate.  Third,  prayer  unceas- 
ing for  this  one  thing,  prompted  by  an  all- 
consuming  desire,  until  the  blessing  comes.  With 
these  simple  but  radical  conditions  met,  a  divine  anointing1 
will  most  assuredly  follow.  The  Spirit  will  be  imparted. 
The  soul  will  be  energized  for  the  hieh  end  set  before  it. 
Nor  is  this  something  merely  for  the  favored  few.  It  is 
for  all  who  sufficiently  long  for  it  to  be  willing  to  pay  the 


THE    PREACHING    NEEDED 


207 


price,  for  it  is  an  expensive  blessing,  involving  often  the 
slaying  and  putting  under  foot  of  dearest  aspirations, 
the  casting  out  of  every  idol,  a  perfect  self-surrender  to 
God,  a  price  which  not  all  are  willing  to  pay. 

But  when  the  blessing  comes,  when  the  heart  is  fully 
charged  with  the  Spirit  and  so  with  the  love  of  Christ, 
when  one  can  go  forth  to  his  work  with  deep  assurance  of 
the  divine  presence  with  him  so  as  to  lead  men  to  say, 
as  was  once  said  of  a  humble  Scotch  minister,  "That 
man  preaches  as  if  the  Lord  Jesus  were  at  his  elbow/' 
his  ministry  will  be  infused  with  new  energy,  his  preach- 
ing will  be  attended  with  new  power,  and  results  will 
appear  in  the  salvation  of  souls. 


XIII 

POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS    AS    TO    FOREIGN 
MISSIONS 

No  department  of  Christian  service,  no  branch  of  the 
work  of  Christ's  kingdom,  is  nobler,  grander,  more  inspir- 
ing, more  fruitful  in  encouraging  results  than  that  of 
foreign  missions.  Yet  no  movement  which  has  sought  to 
extend  that  kingdom  has  been  more  misapprehended  than 
this.  While  many  long-standing  misconceptions  in 
regard  to  it  have  gradually  given  place  in  well-informed 
circles  to  more  correct  and  wholesome  views,  many  mis- 
conceptions still  remain  in  the  common  thought  both  of 
Christian  people  and  the  world  at  large.  These  miscon- 
ceptions are  a  serious  hindrance  to  the  speedy  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  lack  of 
sympathy  and  cooperation  on  the  part  of  many  persons 
in  the  work  of  foreign  missions,  their  apathy  toward  it, 
the  withholding  of  gifts  from  it,  their  prejudice,  some- 
times active  opposition  against  it,  may  be  traced  to  the 
erroneous,  perverted  views  of  it  which  they  have  come  to 
cherish.  Hence  the  importance  of  an  effort  to  clear  away 
the  misconceptions  which  prevail  in  the  public  mind,  and 
to  set  forth  the  real  truth  as  to  the  obligation,  the  aims, 
the  methods,  and  the  results  of  foreign  missions. 

A  misconception  which  some  people  still  entertain  is 
to  the  effect  that  those  to  whom  missionaries  are  sent  are 
alike  ignorant,  unintelligent,  uncivilized  barbarians. 
This  has  been  true  in  many  instances,  as  it  still  is  in 
portions  of  Africa  and  in  some  of  the  islands  of  the  sea. 
Here  the  moral  condition  of  the  natives  is  often  appalling. 
Debasing  heathenish  customs  prevail.  The  awfulness  of 
social  conditions  cannot  be  described.  Cannibalism  is  not 

208 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


209 


yet  entirely  extinct.  But  this  is  far  from  being  the  condi- 
tion of  all  or  even  of  most  of  the  peoples  to  whom  mis- 
sionaries are  sent.  India,  Japan  and  China,  where  mis- 
sionary operations  are  perhaps  conducted  on  the  most 
extensive  scale,  are  lands  of  ancient  civilization;  the 
people  there  have  a  history,  with  records  extending  back 
for  centuries;  a  literature  also,  with  not  a  little  that  is 
valuable  in  it;  while  in  vigor  of  intellect,  in  keenness  of 
perception,  in  ability  to  learn,  they  are  not,  in  native 
endowment,  inferior  to  Western  races;  in  some  instances 
they  even  excel  them.  This  is  not  true  of  all  who  occupy 
these  lands.  In  many  sections  of  them  the  masses  of  the 
people  are  low  down  in  the  moral  scale,  with  mental 
powers  correspondingly  dulled.  It  is  a  significant  fact 
that  in  some  of  their  institutions  of  learning — often  now 
with  American  or  English  educators  at  the  head — the 
very  same  studies  are  pursued  as  in  this  country,  and 
the  students,  heathen  though  they  may  be,  raise  and 
discuss  the  very  same  questions  upon  philosophical  and 
theological  themes  as  do  students  in  institutions  in  this  or 
in  any  other  enlightened  country.  In  commercial  affairs, 
sometimes  in  political,  there  are  natives  of  these  countries, 
which  we  call  pagan,  who  are  as  sharp  and  keen,  and  as 
far-reaching  in  their  plans  and  operations,  as  are  the  great 
merchants  and  statesmen  who  enjoy  the  advantages  of  a 
Christian  civilization. 

It  is  a  misconception,  therefore,  to  suppose  that  all  the 
heathen  are  ignorant  and  degraded  barbarians. 

The  degree  of  intelligence  and  progress  in  some  of 
these  pagan  lands  suggests  another  misconception  which 
has  found  lodgment  in  the  minds  of  not  a  few,  viz. :  That 
in  such  lands  as  China  and  India,  and  in  some  nominally 
Christian  countries,  like  Armenia,  Mexico,  Spain,  there 
is  no  need  of  missionary  labor;  that  the  people  are  getting 
along  well  enough  as  they  are. 

It  is  sufficient  to  say  in  reply  that  considerable  intelli- 
gence and  some  degree  of  culture  do  not  save  any  one  in 


XIV 


2io  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

heathendom,  any  more  than  they  do  here  at  home,  or 
in  any  other  Christian  land.  The  truth  is,  unregenerate 
human  nature  in  civilized  paganism  is  like  unregenerate 
human  nature  elsewhere.  According  to  the  testimony 
of  those  who  are  well  informed  and  most  competent  to 
judge,  the  Scripture  description  of  the  human  heart  as 
"deceitful  above  all  things,  and  .  .  .  desperately 
sick,"  is  emphatically  true  of  the  heathen  world  at  its  best. 
If  in  the  better  pagan  countries  there  is  less  of  that  grosser 
external  sin  which  prevails  among  the  more  degraded 
races,  it  is  by  no  means  lacking;  while  the  subtler,  more 
hidden  sins  of  the  heart,  deception,  lying,  perjury, 
covetousness,  selfishness,  pride,  lustful  desire,  indifference 
to  suffering  and  want  in  others,  abound  to  such  a  degree 
and  are  so  deeply  ingrained  in  the  nature  of  those  who 
commit  them  as  to  render  it  exceedingly  difficult  to 
impress  moral  and  spiritual  truth  upon  their  minds. 
Corruption  in  both  public  and  private  life  is  universal. 
Degrading  superstitions  prevail,  moral  standards  and 
ideals  of  righteousness  are  low.  Life  stagnates.  The 
existing  religious  systems,  while  containing  some  truth, 
are  not  morally  uplifting.  Hinduism  has  been  called  a 
deification  of  cruelty,  lust  and  murder.  Woman  is 
degraded  by  its  influence.  The  foundations  of  life  are 
rotten.  Neither  in  Hinduism  nor  in  Brahminism  nor  in 
Confucianism,  is  there  any  power  to  renovate  and  trans- 
form the  lives  of  men.  These  religions  have  all  been 
tested  for  centuries,  and  have  been  found  wanting.  Sin, 
ruin  and  despair  still  brood  over  the  foremost  of  the 
pagan  countries  as  when  Christ  came  to  redeem  the  world. 
The  one  conspicuous  lack  of  the  heathen  systems  is  the 
power  to  regenerate  the  heart  or  to  transform  character 
and  life,  to  bring  peace  and  comfort  to  the  troubled  and 
sorrowing  soul.  The  same  is  true  of  the  emasculated 
Christianity  of  those  nominally  Christian  lands  where 
the  religion  of  Jesus  has  degenerated  into  a  mere  form 
and  is  without  vitality  or  spiritual  power. 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS  211 

Even  in  the  most  enlightened  lands,  with  all  their 
Christian  institutions  and  varied  moral  agencies,  there  is 
still  need  of  the  most  earnest  and  aggressive  effort.  No 
one  thinks  it  unnecessary.  Much  more,  then,  is  the 
gospel  needed  in  these  other  lands  where  Christianity  has 
not  been  established,  or  where  Christian  influences  are  as 
yet  but  few  and  relatively  feeble.  The  gospel  is  needed 
to  regenerate  men,  to  lift  up  and  purify  society,  to  awaken 
the  higher  aspirations,  to  present  lofty  ideals  of  righteous- 
ness, and  to  make  known  the  rich  resources  of  grace  in 
Jesus  Christ  by  which  these  ideals  may  be  realized.  The 
gospel  is  the  heaven-given  remedy  for  the  sins  and  ills 
of  the  world.  Its  path  has  always  been  the  path  of 
progress,  mental,  moral,  social,  civil,  national.  It  is  in 
accord  with  the  nature  of  Christianity  that  those  who 
have  experienced  its  blessings  should  be  eager  that  the 
whole  world  should  possess  them. 

That  Christianity  is  not  needed  in  the  more  advanced 
pagan  or  nominally  Christian  lands  cannot  be  true.  In 
the  highest  and  truest  sense,  it  is  the  "White  Man's 
Burden"  to  alleviate  their  moral  condition  by  giving  them 
that  which  includes  in  itself  all  blessings,  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

Another  erroneous  view — a  misconception  which  is  not 
often  met  with  in  intelligent  circles — is  to  the  effect  that 
almost  any  one  who  is  possessed  of  piety  will  do  for 
missionary  service,  whatever  may  be  his  deficiencies  in 
other  respects;  that  one  who  may  not  be  fitted  to  succeed 
in  the  Christian  ministry  or  in  any  form  of  Christian 
service  at  home  may  yet  be  sent  abroad;  that  therefore 
our  foreign  missionaries  as  a  class  are  inferior  men. 
Such  misconceptions  as  these  have  no  grounds  upon  which 
to  rest.  In  view  of  the  many-sidedness  of  missionary 
operations  as  now  conducted  and  in  view  of  the  intel- 
ligence and  mental  acumen  of  many  of  the  peoples  to 
whom  the  gospel  is  sent,  there  is  need  of  and  demand 
for  the  best,  the  brightest,  the  most  thoroughly  equipped 


212  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

men  available.  The  high  character  and  quality  of  mis- 
sionaries as  a  class  is  abundantly  and  indisputably  attested 
by  the  results  of  their  labors,  and  by  the  testimony  of 
those  most"  competent  to  judge.  "There  is  no  class  of 
men  upon  the  earth,  whether  considered  as  scholars,  or 
philanthropists,  or  as  gentlemen,  who  have  earned  for 
themselves  a  more  distinguished  reputation."  Such  is 
the  tribute  to  foreign  missionaries,  in  the  Smithsonian 
Contributions  to  Knowledge,  and  this  is  but  one  of  many 
similar  tributes  to  be  gathered  from  other  equally  trust- 
worthy sources.  Says  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  "I  do  not 
believe  that  in  the  whole  history  of  missions,  I  do  not 
believe  that  in  the  history  of  diplomacy,  or  in  the  history 
of  any  negotiations  carried  on  between  man  and  man,  we 
can  find  anything  equal  to  the  wisdom,  the  soundness, 
and  the  pure  evangelical  truth  of  the  men  who  constitute 
the  American  mission  to  Turkey."  And,  he  might  have 
added,  to  any  other  land  to  which  Christian  missionaries 
have  gone. 

The  standard  of  qualifications  for  the  missionary  serv- 
ice has  been  steadily  rising.  Not  every  one  who  now 
applies  to  be  sent  abroad  is  accepted.  There  is  need  of 
sound  learning  and  the  best  scholarship.  The  Bible  and 
other  valuable  books  are  to  be  translated  into  languages 
which,  in  many  cases,  must  first  be  reduced  to  writing. 
Instruction  is  to  be  given  in  colleges  and  theological 
seminaries,  in  training  converted  natives  to  be  preachers 
and  teachers  and  to  be  leaders  among  their  people.  There 
is  need  of  sound  judgment  and  the  highest  wisdom  in 
dealing  with  the  difficult  and  perplexing  questions  which 
constantly  arise  on  mission  fields,  and  which  the  mis- 
sionaries must  face  and  settle.  There  is  scope  for  large 
executive  ability  in  missionary  service.  There  is,  in  fact, 
demand  for  all  the  talents  one  may  possess,  talents  of  the 
highest  order,  if  one  would  be  a  successful  missionary 
in  these  modern  times.  One  must  be  preacher,  educator, 
bishop,  editor,  translator,  manager,  a  wise  counselor,  a 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS  213 

religious  statesman.  For  this  many-sided  service  only 
such  men  as  are  most  likely  to  succeed  at  home  are  now 
sought  for  foreign  fields.  There  is  also  call  for  the 
services  of  intelligent  and  efficient  laymen  in  this 
work,  and  their  usefulness  is  being  more  and  more 
demonstrated. 

Still  another  misconception  is,  that  the  heathen  nations 
are  eagerly  waiting  for  the  gospel,  stretching  out  their 
hands  to  receive  it,  crying  out,  "Come  over  into  Mace- 
donia, and  help  us."  It  would  greatly  simplify  the  work 
of  foreign  missions,  would  relieve  it  of  many  of  its 
greatest  and  most  determined  hindrances,  were  this  true. 
Unfortunately,  it  is  not  true.  The  mass  of  people  in 
the  heathen  world  are  not  eager  for  the  gospel,  are 
satisfied  with  what  they  have,  knowing  nothing  better, 
and  are  inclined  to  resent,  rather  than  otherwise,  any 
interference  with  long-established  customs  and  beliefs. 
It  is  this  satisfaction  with  what  they  have,  this  lack  of 
desire  for  Christianity,  this  indifference  to  its  promised 
blessings,  which  constitutes  one  of  the  greatest  obstacles 
to  the  progress  of  foreign  missionary  work. 

It  may  be  true  that  a  few  persons  in  these  lands  are 
dissatisfied  with  their  condition  and  are  prepared  to  listen 
appreciatively  to  the  proclamation  of  the  new  faith  and 
to  embrace  it,  as  offering  to  them  a  surer  hope  for  the 
future  than  they  now  have,  or  at  least  more  comfort  and 
help  for  the  present.  It  is  this  class  which  the  missionary 
first  of  all  seeks  to  discover  and  reach,  but  in  some  fields 
the  number  of  such  persons  seems  to  be  very  small ;  some- 
times, apparently,  there  are  none  at  all.  Usually  the 
desire  for  something  better  than  the  religion  one  possesses 
must  be  awakened  before  the  gospel  can  be  appreciated. 

It  is  only  in  the  sense  of  the  real,  though  unconscious, 
need  of  the  gospel  on  the  part  of  the  heathen  that  they 
can  truthfully  be  said  to  be  stretching  out  their  hands  to 
receive  it.  Missionaries  seek  to  meet  this  need  of  the 
human  heart,  even  if  the  heathen  themselves  do  not 
recognize  it. 


214  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

Another  misconception  is  that  some  faiths,  like  Moham- 
medanism, Confucianism,  Hinduism,  Brahminism,  will 
never  succumb  to  Christianity;  that  it  is  useless  to  try  to 
convert  nations  to  the  Christian  faith  which  can  boast 
of  religious  systems  which  were  hoary  with  age  when 
Christianity  was  brought  into  the  world,  systems  which 
are  deeply  rooted  in  the  life  and  habits  of  thought  and  in 
the  prejudices  of  their  adherents. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  not  a  few  adherents  of  these  ancient 
faiths  have  already  yielded  their  allegiance  to  Christianity, 
which  is  conclusive  proof  that,  while  it  may  be  difficult, 
it  is  not  impossible  to  reach  devotees  to  those  faiths  with 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  They  may  not  be  converted 
in  masses.  This  is  not  the  divine  plan.  The  gospel  is 
designed  for  individuals,  and  it  is  given  to  them  one 
by  one.  Sometimes,  though  rarely,  circumstances  are 
favorable  to  the  wining  of  large  numbers.  Although  the 
adherents  of  some  systems  may  be  more  easily  accessible 
to  the  truth  than  others,  it  is  not  true  that  any  pagan 
religion  is  an  absolute  barrier  against  Christianity,  or 
that  it  is  impossible  to  overcome  it.  More  and  more  it 
is  being  demonstrated  that  Christianity  is  fitted,  as  it  was 
designed,  to  be  the  universal  religion,  and  that  it  is 
destined,  ultimately,  to  supersede  all  other  religions.  It 
has  world- wide  or  universal  elements  in  it  such  as  no 
other  possesses.  It  meets  perfectly  the  needs  of  universal 
human  nature.  This  is  not  true  of  any  other  religion 
which  exists.  Christianity  is  the  exact  counterpart  of  the 
soul's  cravings,  in  whatever  condition,  or  land,  or  age. 
All  this  points  to  its  ultimate  supremacy  and  prevalence. 
Its  aggressiveness,  its  innate  potency,  its  wide-spreading, 
ever-expanding:  dissemination,  and  its  marvelous  victories 
over  mighty  obstacles  are  fast  verifying  God's  promise 
that  Christ's  kingdom  shall  be  universal.  It  may  require 
time  to  bring  this  about,  but  we  are  not  to  forget  that 
with  the  Lord  a  thousand  years  are  as  one  day. 

The  answer  in  general  to  all  pessimistic  views  in  regard 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS  2I$ 

to  the  ultimate  triumph  of  Christianity  should  be, 
"Ye  do  err,  not  knowing  .  .  .  the  power  of 
God."  Mission  work  is  full  of  surprises — so  is  all 
Christian  work — but  these  surprises  meet  us  more  fre- 
quently in  work  abroad  than  here  at  home.  This  has 
been  its  history.  Witness  the  conversion  of  the  Karens 
as  the  result  of  the  preaching  of  Judson;  the  great  re- 
vivals in  the  Hawaiian  Islands;  the  conversion 
of  the  Lanthals  and  of  hundreds  of  thousands  in 
the  Baptist  mission  to  the  Telugus ;  the  transformation  of 
the  Fiji  Islands  within  a  single  generation;  and  the  steady 
progress  the  gospel  is  now  making  both  in  Japan  and 
China.  Nothing  in  the  heart  of  man  is  too  difficult  for 
the  grace  of  God  to  overcome;  no  obstacles  to  the  progress 
of  Christianity  in  the  world  are  too  stubborn  for  the 
providence  of  God  to  surmount.  Thus  it  has  always 
been;  thus  it  will  continue  to  be. 

Another  fact  to  be  taken  into  account  is  this,  that  many 
of  these  ancient  faiths  are  showing  signs  of  decay,  while 
Christianity  was  never  more  vital,  virile,  vigorous,  never 
more  confident,  making  greater  gains  or  winning  more 
striking  victories  than  at  the  present  time.  No  religious 
system  of  the  world  has  power  permanently  to  stay  its 
progress,  or  to  hold  out  against  it. 

Still  another  misconception  is  that  the  various  pagan 
systems  and  religions  are  all  error,  that  there  is  no  truth 
in  them.  This  is  a  mistake.  As  knowledge  of  these 
systems  has  increased,  it  has  been  discovered  that,  together 
with  all  that  is  erroneous  and  false  in  them,  much  truth 
is  mingled,  now  more,  now  less,  always  some.  The 
science  of  Comparative  Religion  is  rendering  valuable 
service  through  the  information  it  is  bringing  to  light 
in  regard  to  these  old  religions.  The  ethical  ideals  of 
some  of  them  are  a  surprise.  In  them  we  are  glad  to 
recognize  many  of  the  universal  instincts,  the  moral  intui- 
tions, which  are  common  to  the  race,  the  cravings  of 
humanity  after  spiritual  experiences.  Many  of  the  truths 
of  natural  religion  are  brought  out  in  them. 


2i6  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

Yet  with  all  the  truth  contained  in  these  ancient  systems 
of  religious  faith,  much  error  is  commingled  with  super- 
stition and  a  vast  deal  of  useless  rubbish,  some  of  it  worse 
than  useless,  while  the  one  great  lack  in  them  all  is  that 
which  men,  when  spiritually  awakened,  most  need  and 
desire — salvation.  They  lack  motive,  transforming 
power,  grace  to  overcome  sin.  On  the  other  hand, 
Christianity  includes  all  the  truth  there  is  in  any  and 
all  these  pagan  systems,  and  adds  a  vast  deal  more.  It 
discloses  all  that  the  human  soul  needs  to  know  for  its 
highest  present  and  eternal  welfare.  Above  all,  it  is 
able  to  save  men  from  sin,  to  rescue  them  from  its 
thraldom.  This  is  its  supreme,  distinctive  feature.  In 
this,  as  in  all  other  respects,  Christianity  towers  infinitely 
above  all  the  faiths,  so-called,  of  the  world.  We  may, 
we  should,  cordially  admit  all  the  truth,  all  the  good  there 
is  in  these  old  faiths,  as  Paul  did  in  the  faith  of  the 
Athenians,  yet,  when  this  has  been  done,  there  remains 
a  mighty  gulf  between  them  and  the  Christian  faith.  In 
its  ideals,  in  its  motives,  in  its  aims,  especially  in  its 
power  of  redemption — in  which  it  stands  alone — 
Christianity  rises  infinitely  above  all  the  religious  systems 
of  the  world.  It  gathers  up  into  itself  all  the  truth  there 
is  in  other  systems  of  religion,  adds  to  it  direct  revelations 
from  God,  which  enable  men  to  realize  in  the  life  that  now 
is  their  own  highest  aspirations,  and  which  bring  them 
into  lasting  harmony  with  their  Creator.  The  religion 
that  can  do  this  must  be  universal. 

A  misconception  which  is  frequently  expressed  is  to 
the  effect  that  only  when  all  the  heathen  at  home  are 
evangelized  will  it  be  time  to  think  about  the  conversion 
of  the  rest  of  the  world. 

This  is  a  narrow,  selfish,  unintelligent  view  to  take  of 
Christ's  kingdom  and  its  advancement,  and  of  our  own 
obligation  with  reference  to  its  extension.  Christ  di- 
rected the  disciples  to  go  into  all  the  world  and  declare  the 
gospel  message  to  all  the  nations.  The  command  holds 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS  217 

good  for  to-day.  The  whole  world  lieth  in  wickedness 
still,  and  if  Christian  people  do  not  send  the  gospel  to 
those  in  darkness,  who  will  ?  It  is  true  there  are  plenty 
of  heathen  at  home,  not  only  among  the  lowly  and  de- 
based, but  among  the  refined  and  cultured  as  well.  But 
in  countries  like  ours,  the  gospel  message  has  been 
published,  is  being  published,  with  ten  thousand  churches 
constantly  open  to  all  classes  and  conditions  of  people, 
and  constantly  inviting  them  in.  It  is  not  as  if  they  had 
no  opportunity,  no  invitation,  no  one  to  care  for  them, 
no  means  of  knowing  the  truth.  They  may  accept  the 
blessings  of  the  gospel  if  they  will.  It  is  not  so  in  these 
distant  lands.  Millions  of  the  people  there  have  never 
heard  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation.  The  gospel  messen- 
gers are  very  few,  the  people  are  perishing  in  their  sins, 
and  no  helping  hand  is  stretched  forth  to  save.  The 
responsibility  is  laid  upon  Christians  to  give  the  gospel 
to  peoples  less  favored  than  those  of  their  own  lands. 
This  is  the  way  the  apostles  understood  their  commission, 
this  is  the  interpretation  which  the  Church  should  give  to 
its  commission  to-day.  The  apostles  began  their 
evangelizing  work  at  Jerusalem,  but  they  did  not  stop 
there.  They  went  on  beyond  the  bounds  of  their  own 
land.  Yet  the  work  at  home  was  not  neglected.  Those 
who  had  received  the  gospel  were  expected  to  communi- 
cate it  to  others  about  them,  and  they  did  so.  They 
helped  to  promote  the  kingdom  where  they  were,  while 
the  apostles  went  forth  to  introduce  the  gospel  leaven  into 
other  lands,  that  thus  the  work  might  progress  in  every 
place  at  once.  If  there  were  a  dearth  of  Christian  work- 
ers at  home  in  this  age,  missionary  indifference  might  be 
excused.  Some  of  these  workers  are  interested  in  one 
form  of  service,  some  in  another;  some  in  home  missions, 
some  in  foreign.  Provision  should  be  made  for  the 
gratification  of  the  foreign  missionary  impulse. 

The  truth  is,  Christian  missions  is  but  another  term  for 
aggressive  Christianity.      All  true  missionary  work  is  but 


2i8  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

an  extension  of  Christianity,  and  the  only  difference  be- 
tween the  home  work  and  the  foreign  is  merely  a 
difference  in  geography.  Christ's  directions  to  his  dis- 
ciples of  old,  and  his  directions  by  his  Spirit  and  his 
providence  to  all  his  believing  ones  to-day,  are  to  extend 
the  knowledge  of  the  gospel  as  rapidly  as  possible,  by  all 
means  at  command,  to  the  ends  of  the  earth — to  the  re- 
motest bounds  of  the  home  land,  and  to  all  the  less  favored 
peoples  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  The  true  spirit  of 
Christianity  is  to  desire  and  to  seek  that  others  every- 
where, the  world  over,  enjoy  the  same  blessings  which 
Christian  people  themselves  have  received.  Further- 
more, it  is  a  notable  fact,  often  observed,  that  where  most 
interest  prevails  in  the  foreign  work,  there  is  also  most 
appreciation  of  the  needs  of  the  work  at  home,  and  most 
is  done  for  the  home  field.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  too 
often  the  case  that  those  who  object  to  "giving  for  foreign 
missions  are  not  noted  for  their  generosity  for  Christian 
work  at  home.  If  they  were  always  zealous  and  generous 
in  seeking  to  convert  the  heathen  at  home,  there  would 
be  less  inconsistency  in  their  attitude  toward  work  among 
the  heathen  abroad. 

A  misconception  which  prevails  with  some,  and  to 
which  expression  is  frequently  given,  is  to  the  effect  that 
it  requires  a  dollar — sometimes  the  amount  is  put  at  two 
dollars — to  get  one  dollar  to  the  heathen ;  in  other  words, 
that  an  altogether  undue  proportion  of  that  which  is 
contributed  for  foreign  missions  is  absorbed  in  the 
expenses  of  administration. 

It  is  easy  to  show  by  facts  which  are  readily  accessible 
that  such  statements  as  these  are  wild  and  reckless.  Take 
the  American  Board,  for  instance,  one  of  our  oldest  and 
best  known  foreign  missionary  societies.  Its  reports 
show — have  shown  for  years — that  of  every  dollar  con- 
tributed for  the  work  abroad,  ninety-two  and  a  half  cents 
are  expended  on  the  field.  The  remaining  seven  and  a 
half  cents  are  needed  to  cover  the  cost  of  collecting  and 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS  219 

transmitting  the  money,  including  the  home  agencies, 
office-rent,  correspondence,  postage,  publications  to  dis- 
seminate missionary  intelligence,  and  the  salaries  of  those 
who  devote  all  their  time  to  the  home  department  of  the 
foreign  work.  These  are  the  expenses  of  administration. 
Is  that  an  extravagant  expenditure  ?  How  many  purely 
business  enterprises,  doing  as  large  a  business,  one  extend- 
ing over  a  greater  portion  of  our  own  country  and  carry- 
ing on  operations  in  twenty  countries  abroad,  can  make  a 
better  showing  than  that?  And  what  is  true  of  the 
American  Board  is  no  doubt  true  of  foreign  missionary 
societies  in  other  religious  bodies,  while,  if  the  receipts 
for  foreign  missions  were  doubled  or  trebled,  the  expenses 
of  administration  would  be  proportionately  less. 

No  great  benevolent  or  other  enterprise  is  more 
economically  administered  than  that  of  foreign  missions. 
An  acquaintance  with  the  facts  in  the  case  would  quickly 
dispose  of  the  charge  of  extravagance  in  the  matter  of 
administrative  expenses  of  our  foreign  boards. 

It  is  a  misconception  that  there  is  nothing  in  missionary 
life  and  experience  at  all  to  compensate  for  the  sacrifice 
involved  in  becoming  a  missionary — the  giving  up  of 
home  and  friends  and  native  land,  the  privileges  and 
enjoyments  of  a  Christian  civilization,  to  bury  oneself 
among  a  strange  people,  in  a  far  distant  land,  with  grave 
difficulties  and  obstacles  constantly  to  be  encountered. 

Such  a  view  of  foreign  missionary  work  loses  sight  of 
the  fact  that  those  who  engage  in  it  do  not  do  so  unwill- 
ingly, or  merely  from  a  hard  sense  of  duty.  They  are 
not  uninformed  as  to  the  nature  of  the  work  they  under- 
take, its  hardships,  its  sacrifices,  the  deprivations  involved 
in  it,  or  the  loneliness  to  which  they  are  likely  to  be 
exposed  from  limited  companionship.  But,  impelled  by 
their  love  to  Christ,  desirous  of  devoting  their  lives  to  his 
service,  and  drawn  to  this  form  of  service  in  particular, 
they  go  forth  voluntarily  and  cheerfully,  assured,  as  they 
go,  of  the  blessing  and  the  sustaining  grace  of  God.  As 


220  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

they  labor  on,  as  they  witness  the  manifestations  of  God's 
grace,  observe  the  unfolding  of  his  providence,  their  in- 
terest in  the  work  grows,  their  minds  and  hearts  are  filled 
with  it,  they  appreciate  the  grandeur  and  the  glory  of  it, 
it  occupies  all  their  time,  their  energy,  their  thought. 
Gladly  do  they  give  to  it  all  their  strength,  and  almost 
invariably,  after  visiting  their  native  land  for  a  season  of 
needed  rest,  do  they  find  themselves  eager  to  return. 

Then,  too,  there  are  the  reactive  benefits  of  the  work 
itself.  The  views  of  the  missionaries  are  broadened, 
their  knowledge  is  increased,  all  their  powers  are  called 
into  exercise  and  are  correspondingly  strengthened. 
Much  depends  upon  the  missionary  himself  as  to  the  de- 
gree of  profit  which  he  derives,  but  to  one  who  is  eager 
for  self -improvement  there  is  every  facility.  As  to 
spiritual  experience,  one  is  brought  into  peculiarly  close 
relations  of  fellowship  with  God.  One  is  more  con- 
sciously dependent  upon  him  in  the  foreign  field  than 
at  home;  the  promises  mean  more;  one  is  led  to  appro- 
priate them  more  fully:  so  that,  on  the  whole,  while  not 
indifferent  to  the  hardships  and  deprivations  of  his  work, 
the  missionary  has  meat  to  eat  of  which  the  world,  even 
the  Christian  world,  knows  nothing.  The  compensations 
of  missionary  service  are  abundant  and  constant  to  him 
who  has  a  heart  to  appreciate  them,  while  no  Christian 
workers,  as  a  class,  appear  to  be  happier  than  foreign 
missionaries,  as  none  are  likely  to  receive  a  more  star- 
studded  crown  of  rejoicing  at  the  end. 

Still  another  misconception  with  many  is  that  it  is 
practically  impossible  to  awaken  in  our  churches  a  deep, 
live  interest  in  foreign  missions.  It  is  not  so.  What 
has  been  done  can  be  done  again.  Many  churches  have 
been  aroused  to  the  importance  of  this  work.  No  subject 
is  more  interesting  to  them,  no  topic  when  announced 
calls  out  so  hearty  a  response  or  so  large  an  attendance. 
This  is  far  from  being  the  case  in  all  churches.  Often 
the  reverse  is  true.  The  difficulty  is,  many  churches 


FOREIGN    MISSIONS  221 

have  not  been  informed  as  to  the  facts.  Missionary  in- 
telligence has  not  been  kept  persistently  and  in  attractive 
form  before  them.  Little  pains  have  been  taken  wisely 
to  cultivate  an  interest  in  the  foreign  field.  No  theme 
is  more  interesting  in  itself,  none  is  more  fascinating  if 
properly  presented,  no  narrations  are  more  thrilling  than 
accounts  of  missionary  labor.  What  is  there  in  the 
annals  of  religious  life  and  work  at  all  comparable  with 
the  history  of  the  beginnings,  the  progress,  the  triumphs 
of  missionary  work  in  such  fields,  for  instance,  as 
Madagascar,  India,  on  many  groups  of  islands  in  the 
Pacific,  like  the  Fiji,  the  Society,  the  Hawaiian  Islands, 
the  New  Hebrides,  and  in  New  Zealand? 

The  truth  is,  there  is  no  enterprise  in  the  world  to-day 
so  great,  so  grand,  projected  on  so  magnificent  a  scale, 
as  that  of  foreign  missions,  and  no  enterprise  is  so 
uniformly  successful.  It  seeks  to  introduce  and  to  estab- 
lish a  Christian  civilization  in  lands  destitute  of  them,  to 
give  a  Christian  literature,  Christian  education,  Christian 
influences  and  Christian  institutions  of  every  kind,  to 
countries  which  have  no  knowledge  of  them.  Marvelous 
triumphs  have  been  already  won,  and  every  mail  brings 
tidings  of  further  victories  for  the  cause  of  Christ.  In 
such  circumstances,  no  church  can  be  regarded  as  abreast 
of  the  times  which  is  not  interested  and  fully  informed  in 
regard  to  foreign  missions.  No  pastor  can  be  said  to  be 
doing  his  duty  who  does  not  keep  missionary  intelligence 
before  his  people.  No  Christian  layman  can  properly  be 
regarded  as  intelligent  who  is  without  information  in 
regard  to  modern  church  history  as  it  is  developing  in 
the  distant  lands  to  which  our  missionaries  are  sent. 
Churches  and  people  can  be  interested.  It  is  culpable  in 
the  highest  degree  not  to  be  interested. 

Having  noticed  various  misconceptions  in  regard  to 
foreign  missions,  we  next  inquire  as  to  the  true  aim  of 
Christian  work  abroad,  its  motives  and  the  ends  which  it 


222  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

strives  to  attain.  Various  views  have  prevailed,  various 
views  have  impelled  to  effort.  Many  of  the  pioneers 
of  modern  missions,  even,  have  gone  forth  with  no  very 
clear  conception  as  to  just  what  they  were  to  accomplish. 
They  were  obeying  Christ's  last  command,  yet  with  but 
an  imperfect  idea  of  what  that  command  involved.  It 
was  only  as  the  work  advanced  that  it  gradually  became 
manifest  how  comprehensive  Christ's  direction  really  is, 
how  many-sided  is  the  work  of  foreign  missions,  and  how 
great  the  importance  of  system  and  the  wise  adaptation 
of  means  to  ends  in  its  prosecution. 

First,  as  to  the  aim  of  foreign  missions.  It  is  not, 
primarily,  the  overthrow  of  false  religious  systems  in 
pagan  lands.  These  systems  will  be  overthrown  if 
Christianity  prevails,  but  the  work  of  foreign  missions, 
as  now  conceived,  is  positive  rather  than  negative.  The 
main  stress  is  laid  upon  building  up  the  Christian  faith, 
rather  than  tearing  down  false  systems  of  faith.  The 
aim  is  to  explain  and  set  forth  to  the  heathen  the  unknown 
God,  whom  many  of  them,  like  the  Athenians  of  old, 
ignorantly  worship,  rather  than  to  prove  to  them  the 
falsity  of  their  own  beliefs.  This  latter  is  done,  incident- 
ally, but  this  is  not  the  primary  purpose  of  foreign 
missions.  Yet  in  the  very  process  of  building  up  the 
new,  the  old  will  necessarily  be  gradually  undermined  and 
overthrown. 

Nor  is  it  the  aim  of  foreign  missions  to  build  up  the 
Church  as  an  organization.  Unquestionably,  ambition 
to  do  this  actuated  much  of  the  earlier  work  of  Christian 
missions.  Not  that  individual  conversion  was  neglected, 
but  that  the  dominant  idea  rather  was  the  enlargement, 
the  strengthening  of  the  Church  as  the  organized  body  of 
Christ.  Everything  was  made  to  bend  to  that.  That 
which  is  emphasized  now  in  foreign  missionary  work,  and 
which  it  was  manifestly  designed  should  be  emphasized, 
is  the  winning  of  men  to  Christ,  building  them  up  in 
righteous  character,  and  establishing  Christian  influences 


FOREIGN    MISSIONS 


223 


and  Christian  institutions  permanently  among  the  people. 
This  is  the  central  idea  in  the  foreign,  as  it  is  in  the 
home  work.  As  a  result,  the  Christian  Church  cannot 
fail  to  be  strengthened,  but  this  is  not,  of  itself,  the 
primary  aim  in  foreign  missions. 

Nor,  again,  is  the  aim  of  Christian  work  abroad  merely 
philanthropic — a  purpose  to  give  the  heathen  the  advan- 
tages of  a  higher  and  better  civilization,  or  to  promote 
improved  social  conditions  among  them.  All  this  is  sadly 
needed,  it  is  a  noble  impulse  which  impels  to  an  effort 
to  supply  the  need,  and  when  Christianity  is  established 
such  results  are  invariably  produced.  But  it  is  not  the  aim 
of  foreign  missions,  directly,  to  bring  about  such  results. 
Properly  speaking,  these  are  the  fruits  of  Christianity. 
The  surest  way  to  civilize  the  heathen  is  to  Christianize 
them.  As  they  become  Christian  disciples,  the  desire 
for  improved  conditions  in  every  aspect  is  awakened,  and 
they  are  led  to  seek  them.  What  civilization  can  do 
without  Christianity  we  see  illustrated  in  the  moral  cor- 
ruption of  the  Roman  Empire.  What  Christianity  can 
do  without  civilization,  or  how,  rather,  Christianity 
stimulates  and  promotes  civilization,  has  been  demon- 
strated repeatedly  in  modern  mission  fields.  Both 
civilization  and  Christianity  are  needed,  but  Christianity 
in  its  full  significance  includes  civilization.  In  order  to 
lay  foundations  for  the  truest  and  most  enduring  civili- 
zation, there  is  need  that  men  first  be  regenerated. 

Once  more,  the  work  of  foreign  missions  is  not 
primarily  to  save  the  heathen  from  perdition.  They 
will  be  saved  from  perdition  if  they  accept  Christ's  gospel, 
but  this  is  a  result,  not  the  primary  aim.  This  as  a 
motive  was  emphasized  formerly  more  than  it  is  at  pres- 
ent. There  is  abundant  ground  for  apprehension  respect- 
ing the  future  state  of  the  heathen,  since  most  of  them, 
even  without  the  knowledge  of  Christianity,  have  sinned 
against  the  light  of  nature  and  of  conscience.  But  the 
main  stress  is  to  be  laid  not  upon  the  negative,  but  upon 


224  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

the  positive  aspects  of  redemption.  The  aim  in  Christian 
work  abroad,  as  in  Christian  work  at  home,  is  to  persuade 
men  to  forsake  sin  and  embrace  Christ,  and  then  to  build 
them  up  in  righteous,  Christlike  character.  As  this 
is  done,  the  peril  of  sin  grows  correspondingly  less. 
This  is  a  natural  consequence,  a  result  of  faith.  Men 
are  thus  saved  to  themselves,  to  society,  to  the  world 
while  they  live,  and  saved  to  God  with  an  everlasting 
salvation  in  the  world  to  come.  Thus  the  scope  of 
Christian  work  in  pagan  lands,  as  at  home,  is  far  broader 
than  simply  to  save  men  from  perdition.  They  are  saved 
from  perdition  through  accepting  Christ,  but  the  blessings 
of  salvation  are  of  vastly  wider  range  than  this  alone. 
They  have  to  do  with  the  developing  of  the  loftiest  possi- 
bilities of  human  nature,  both  for  this  life  and  the  next. 

We  have  been  speaking  of  what  the  aim  of  foreign 
missions  is  not.  Positively,  the  aim  of  foreign  missions, 
as  of  Christian  work  at  home,  and  as  was  the  gospel's 
aim  in  the  beginning,  is  undoubtedly  the  saving  of  men. 
The  Son  of  man  came  into  the  world  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  lost.  He  laid  the  same  responsibility 
upon  his  followers.  They  were  to  go  into  all  the  world, 
making  disciples  of  all  nations,  and  teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  he  had  commanded  them. 
They  were  to  make  proclamation  of  the  glad  tidings  to 
men  everywhere  and  were  to  seek  to  win  them  to  Christ 
and  to  a  higher  and  nobler  life.  Rescue  from  thraldom 
to  sin  was  now  possible.  Faith  in  .Christ  was  the 
victory;  his  grace  was  available,  and  was  adequate  to 
secure  it.  Nor  was  there  any  other  name  than  that  of 
Christ  whereby  redemption  was  possible. 

This,  then,  is  the  supreme  object  of  foreign  missions, 
the  saving  of  men;  salvation  in  the  full,  broad  sense — 
saving  from  sin  and  its  perils,  but  at  the  same  time 
developing  all  the  graces  of  Christian  character,  all  the 
higher  possibilities  of  their  nature,  all  the  rich  experi- 
ence of  a  full  spiritual  life.  It  is  to  save  men  to  them- 


FOREIGN    MISSIONS 


22$ 


selves,  to  society,  to  the  world,  to  God,  to  save  them 
with  an  everlasting  salvation,  for  the  glory  of  God,  that 
as  soon  as  possible  he  may  be  recognized  as  King  of  kings 
and  Lord  of  lords  over  the  heathen,  as  over  the  Chris- 
tian world,  that  foreign  missions  exist. 

So,  then,  it  is  not  the  primary  aim  of  foreign  missions 
to  overturn  the  strongly  entrenched  pagan  systems, 
although  it  is  inevitable  that  in  due  time  they  will  be 
supplanted  by  Christianity.  It  is  not  to  build  up  the 
visible,  organized  Church,  or  any  branch  of  it,  important 
as  the  Church  may  be  as  an  agency  to  promote  Christian 
ends,  and  as,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  it  must  be 
built  up  as  the  work  of  missions  advances.  It  is  not 
philanthropic  work  primarily,  to  give  the  heathen  a  better 
civilization  and  better  social  conditions,  though  this,  too, 
must  inevitably  result  from  the  introduction  of  the  gospel. 
It  is  not  primarily  to  save  the  heathen  from  perdition, 
though  by  accepting  the  gospel  they  will  be  saved  from 
it.  The  central '  aim  of  foreign  missions,  an  aim  which 
is  never  to  be  lost  sight  of,  is  to  save  men.  It  is  to 
evangelize  the  nations,  it  is  to  bring  a  sinful  world  back 
to  God.  It  is  to  make  known  Christ  and  his  salvation  to 
those  Who  are  now  ignorant  of  them,  make  them  known 
to  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men — the  lowest  and  most 
debased  as  well  as  the  highest,  to  man  as  man.  After 
men  have  accepted  the  gospel  and  become  disciples  of 
Christ,  its  aim  is  to  train  them  in  the  new  life,  root  and 
ground  them  in  the  truth,  show  them  how  to  grow  in 
holiness  and  Christlikeness  of  character,  and  to  become 
in  turn  evangelists  and  benefactors  to  their  own  people. 
It  is  to  introduce  into  heathen  lands,  whether  the  more 
advanced  or  the  more  degraded,  all  the  forces  of  the 
gospel,  all  the  influences  and  agencies  of  a  Christian 
civilization,  that  thus  their  condition  may  be  improved 
materially,  socially,  mentally,  morally,  spiritually;  that 
the  best  that  is  in  them  may  be  developed;  that  all  the 
riches  of  God's  grace  may  be  imparted  to  them,  and  that 


XIV 


226  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

this  work  of  renovation  and  moral  elevation  may  be 
carried  on  among  their  inhabitants  permanently. 

This  is  the  great,  grand  aim  of  foreign  missionary 
service,  this  is  what  is  involved  in  it  as  it  is  now  under- 
stood by  the  churches,  and  as  Christ  intended  it  should 
be  understood  when  he  gave  his  last  command  to  his  dis- 
ciples to  go  forth  into  all  the  world  and  make  disciples 
of  all  nations,  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatso- 
ever he  commanded  them.  To  realize  this  purpose 
requires  courage,  faith,  patience,  for  gigantic  obstacles 
are  in  the  way,  and  a  long  time  will  be  required  to  remove 
them;  but  in  response  to  Christ's  call,  in  his  command, 
in  his  providence,  by  his  Spirit,  and  prompted  by  love, 
men  have  gone  forth — consecrated,  enthusiastic,  heroic, 
braving  untold  hardships  often,  until  now  the  heralds  of 
salvation  have  penetrated  into  all  the  dark  places  of  the 
earth,  multitudes  have  been  won  to  Christ  and  are  them- 
selves pressing  forward  the  work  with  ever-increasing 
momentum  and  power. 

We  turn  next  to  consider  how  this  work  of  foreign 
missions  is  carried  on,  the  methods  and  the  agencies 
employed,  what  wisdom  and  efficiency  in  its  prosecution 
have  been  gained  from  experience.  Many  misconcep- 
tions prevail  in  regard  to  Christian  service  abroad, — 
rather,  there  is  a  woful  lack  of  information  respecting  it. 

In  observing  the  methods  now  employed  in  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  of  this  service,  we  cannot  fail  to  see 
that  they  are  the  outcome  of  an  evolutionary  process.  At 
first,  ideas  of  what  was  to  be  done  were  crude,  methods 
were  imperfect  and  inadequate,  mistakes  and  failure  were 
frequent.  Yet  out  of  this  experience  the  nature  and 
needs  of  foreign  fields  have  become  so  well  understood, 
and  the  work  itself  so  systematized,  that  now  it  is  possible 
to  conduct  it  with  a  statesmanlike  grasp  of  the  situation, 
with  a  wise  adaptation  of  the  best  means  at  command  to 
the  ends  which  we  desire  to  reach. 


FOREIGN    MISSIONS 


227 


A  century  ago  there  was  little  or  no  organization  in  the 
work  of  missions.  Individuals  went  where  they  pleased, 
worked  as  they  chose,  were  supported  according  to 
no  fixed  plan.  Sometimes  they  provided  for  themselves, 
sometimes  they  depended  upon  those  to  whom  they  went, 
sometimes  they  were  sustained  by  churches  or  friends  at 
home.  Faithful  work  was  done,  but  it  is  hardly  to  be 
supposed  that  by  such  haphazard,  irregular  methods  the 
largest  and  best  results  be  realized.  Later  there 
came  to  be  more  system;  aggressive  work  was  undertaken 
in  a  more  orderly  way,  according  to  well-defined  prin- 
ciples; missionaries  went  forth  under  definite  instructions 
and  with  support  assured;  until  now,  through  wisdom 
gained  by  experience,  the  duties  of  those  who  go  abroad 
and  of  those  who  remain  at  home  are  clearly  defined. 
The  duty  of  those  who  remain  at  home  is  to  provide 
suitable  men,  secure  the  means  for  their  support,  take 
general  supervision  of  those  who  go  abroad,  although 
not  in  any  such  way  as  to  hinder  their  essential  freedom 
of  action.  Many  of  the  denominations  have  their 
foreign  missionary  organization  or  board.  In  fact,  there 
is  scarcely  a  denomination  of  any  size  or  influence  in  this 
country  which  is  not  represented  in  one  or  more  mission 
fields.  Some  missionary  organizations  are  independent 
of  church  or  ecclesiastical  control.  Each  of  these 
various  organizations  adopts  such  methods  and  plans  at 
home  to  awaken  and  sustain  missionary  interests,  to 
select  suitable  men,  and  to  procure  the  necessary  means, 
as  experience  has  demonstrated  to  be  wise.  The  present 
methods  of  administering  the  home  side  of  the  foreign 
service  have  been  gradually  evolved. 

This  is  true,  also,  of  methods  of  work  abroad.  Experi- 
ence has  been  the  teacher.  The  practical  methods  of 
to-day  are  far  in  advance  of  those  which  were  formerly 
employed,  while  the  efficiency  of  the  work  has  corres- 
pondingly increased.  Usually  the  missionaries  of  a 
particular  society,  occupying  a  certain  territory,  consti- 


228  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

tute  what  is  called  a  mission.  This  mission  is  simply  an 
association  of  missionaries  on  the  field,  and  is  really  a 
branch  or  auxiliary  of  the  board  at  home,  "organized  for 
the  more  methodical  conduct  of  work  in  the  field,  and  for 
the  decision  of  such  questions  as  arise  which  cannot  be 
conveniently  referred  to  the  home  society."  This  mission 
meets  annually  or  oftener,  at  some  station,  and  transacts 
such  business  in  the  interest  of  the  work  as  properly  comes 
before  it.  The  mission  station  is  a  section  or  portion 
of  the  general  mission.  It  is  usually  located  in  a  city, 
with  a  considerable  section  of  the  country  around  as  the 
field  of  its  operations.  An  out-station  is  subordinate  to 
the  station,  as  the  station  is  subordinate  to  the  mission. 
In  all  branches  of  the  work  converted  natives,  wisely 
selected,  are  employed  as  helpers.  Some  of  these  natives 
develop  a  high  degree  of  ability. 

The  first  work  of  the  missionary  abroad,  after  familiar- 
izing himself  with  the  language — unless  the  field  to  which 
he  goes  is  one  in  which  the  work  is  already  furnished 
with  the  usual  missionary  agencies — is  evangelistic. 
The  aim  is  to  make  the  people  aware  of  their  spiritual 
needs,  and  then  to  present  Christ  as  the  one  by  whom 
these  needs  are  to  be  met.  This  evangelizing  work  has 
been  carried  on  through  personal  intercourse;  by  visiting 
the  people  at  their  homes ;  by  preaching  as  there  has  been 
opportunity,  in  a  street,  or  public  square,  or  other  place 
where  men  congregate,  at  a  private  house,  or  in  a  public 
hall;  by  the  distribution  of  the  Scriptures  or  portions  of 
them  or  tracts,  where  the  natives  are  able  to  read ;  through 
medical  assistance,  which  is  one  of  the  surest  means  of 
gaining  access  to  the  people;  through  the  agency  of 
women  for  women — a  most  important  branch  of  mis- 
sionary work  in  those  countries  where  women  are  other- 
wise inaccessible.  As  a  result  of  these  various  methods 
of  coming  into  personal  contact  with  the  people  and 
presenting  to  them  their  spiritual  needs,  many  have  been 
won  to  Christ.  Sometimes  this  evangelizing  work  is 


FOREIGN    MISSIONS  229 

confined  to  a  particular  city,  sometimes  it  is  carried  on 
in  a  number  of  places  by  tours  among  the  people.  It  is 
in  some  such  ways  as  these  that  missionaries  come  into 
vital  contact  with  the  natives  and  give  them  the  gospel 
message  the  first  time  they  go  among  them.  In  this 
way  a  foundation  for  future  work  is  laid.  Then  other 
agencies  are  set  in  operation. 

After  conversion,  the  native  Christian  character  is  to  be 
developed.  This  is  a  matter  of  the  first  importance  in 
view  of  the  conditions  of  life  which  surround  these 
immature  believers,  and  of  the  customs  and  vices  with 
which  they  have  always  been  familiar.  Careful,  long- 
continued  training  is  required.  In  training  men  for 
domestic,  social,  civic  duties,  and  in  providing  for  the 
extension  of  the  work  and  its  permanence  through  native 
agencies,  various  methods  are  employed. 

One  of  them  is  education.  In  its  earlier  and  more 
rudimentary  stage  this  educational  training  may  be  fur- 
nished by  expository  preaching  or  Bible-class  instruction. 
The  Christian  homes  of  the  missionaries  are  also  very 
helpful  in  this  connection.  Through  their  uplifting 
influences  they  serve  a  purpose  corresponding  to  that  of 
"social  settlements"  in  our  cities  at  home.  Later,  as 
the  work  advances,  schools  are  established.  These 
schools  are  of  all  grades,  according  as  the  need  develops, 
from  the  kindergarten  to  the  university.  Not  only  do 
these  schools  give  opportunity  for  the  instruction  of  the 
children  of  families  brought  under  the  influence  of  the 
gospel,  but  also  for  the  training  of  native  teachers  and 
preachers  and  helpers  to  assist  the  missionaries  and  to 
become  leaders  among  their  own  people.  In  this  way 
there  have  gradually  grown  up  at  missionary  centers 
various  educational  institutions,  many  of  which  compare 
favorably  with  similar  institutions  at  home.  These 
institutions — at  first  manned  by  the  missionaries — are 
gradually  given  more  or  less,  as  the  situation  warrants, 
into  the  hands  of  natives  who  have  proved  their  ability 


230 


POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 


to  teach.  Boarding-schools  and  day-schools  for  both 
boys  and  girls  are  to  be  found  almost  everywhere  in  mis- 
sion fields.  Industrial  schools,  too,  have  been  introduced 
more  recently,  and  have  proved  to  be  exceedingly  valu- 
able. In  some  cases  Christian  institutions  have  been 
established  and  maintained  upon  a  basis  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  mission  boards,  and  have  exerted  large  in- 
fluence. Robert  College,  at  Constantinople,  is  a  notable 
instance. 

Another  phase  of  educational  work  in  connection  with 
foreign  missions  is  that  of  Bible  translation  and  distribu- 
tion. This  is  one  of  the  first  needs.  It  has  often  been 
a  difficult  work  to  reduce  barbarous  tongues  to  writing, 
and  then  to  make  translations  into  them,  but  now  all 
important  mission  fields  are  supplied  with  the  Scriptures, 
entire  or  in  part,  in  the  native  tongue.  Other  valuable 
works  have  also  been  translated,  frequently  religious 
papers  are  published  and  circulated.  Thus  gradually  a 
Christian  literature  is  provided.  Bibles,  books  of  devo- 
tion, hymns,  Christian  instruction,  commentaries, 
tracts — all  these  and  many  other  works  are  made  accessi- 
ble to  those  who  can  read  them. 

But  the  great  agency,  after  all,  for  developing  Christian 
character  and  for  extending  and  perpetuating  the  work  of 
missions,  is  to  be  found  in  the  native  church.  "It  was 
the  work  of  the  apostles  and  their  immediate  successors 
to  raise  up  and  develop  in  each  community  a  church 
homogeneous  to  that  community,  and  this  has  been  the 
aim  of  missionaries  ever  since.  While  in  general  the 
organization  of  these  churches  has  conformed  to  the  type 
of  the  churches  represented  by  the  missionaries,  scope  has 
also  been  allowed  for  any  peculiar  needs  which  might 
pertain  to  the  country  or  people/'  While  these  special 
needs  may  vary  in  different  lands,  these  missionary 
churches  have  many  characteristics  in  common.  Some- 
times it  is  necessary  to  assist  in  the  maintenance  of  them 
for  a  season,  for  now  as  of  old  it  is  to  the  poor  that 


FOREIGN    MISSIONS 


231 


the  gospel  is  principally  preached  even  in  these  lands,  but 
they  are  brought  to  self-support  as  soon  as  possible.  The 
purpose  of  missions,  as  now  carried  on,  is  to  develop  the 
ability  of  Christian  natives  so  wisely  and  so  rapidly  that 
in  the  near  future  the  entire  responsibility  for  the  evangel- 
ization of  their  respective  countries  may  be  placed  in  their 
hands. 

What  has  now  been  said  gives  some  idea  of  the  scope 
and  the  methods  of  foreign  missions  as  we  think  of  them 
to-day.  The  representatives  of  our  home  churches  go 
into  a  foreign  country  or  among  a  strange  people  and 
introduce  the  gospel  with  the  Christian  agencies  which 
accompany  it.  They  seek  to  save  men  and  to  train  them 
in  the  Christian  life,  to  provide  schools,  to  give  them 
the  Bible  in  their  own  tongue,  gradually  to  furnish  a 
Christian  literature.  The  aim  is  not  merely  to  secure  im- 
mediate results,  but  so  to  establish  Christian  institutions 
that  the  work  may  go  forward  continuously  during  the 
generations  to  come,  or  until  the  whole  people  are  brought 
under  the  influence  of  the  gospel.  The  missionary  aims 
at  nothing  less  than  to  transfer  the  blessings  of  a  truly 
Christian  civilization  to  every  pagan  country  in  the  whole 
world. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  consider,  briefly,  what  has 
been  accomplished  by  foreign  missions.  There  are  those 
who  declare  that  the  results  of  missions  do  not  warrant 
the  sacrifice  and  the  expenditure  involved.  This  is  a 
serious  misconception,  based  upon  a  very  superficial 
understanding  of  what  has  been  accomplished.  The  facts 
prove  the  reverse.  So  numerous  and  varied  are  the 
results  of  missionary  operations  that  it  is  by  no  means 
easy  to  summarize  them.  To  do  so  would  be  like  trying 
to  summarize  the  results  of  Christianity  in  the  world. 
The  same  results  which  Christianity  produces  at  home, 
and  wherever  it  is  established,  it  is  all  the  time  producing 
in  greater  or  less  degree  in  pagan  lands.  It  introduces 


232 


POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 


new  ideas  among  the  people,  new  ideals  of  life,  new 
motives,  new  aims,  stimulates  a  stagnant  intellectual  life, 
sets  men  to  thinking,  quickens  a  sluggish  moral  sense, 
a  deadened  conscience,  exalts  social  life,  awakens  new  and 
higher  aspirations.  Man  is  ennobled,  woman  is  elevated, 
sanctity  is  given  to  the  marriage  relation,  home  is  made 
a  home,  a  new  value  attaches  to  childhood,  a  new  tender- 
ness is  felt  for  old  age,  for  the  sick  and  infirm.  As 
soon  as  the  gospel  is  received,  it  sets  all  the  forces  of  a 
Christian  civilization  into  operation. 

The  many-sided  views  of  the  work  of  foreign  missions 
and  the  marvelous  character  of  the  results  achieved  may 
be  illustrated  by  a  single  example  out  of  many,  but  one 
which  makes  unmistakably  plain  what  the  real  nature  of 
foreign  missions  is,  how  this  takes  hold  of  and  elevates 
the  individual  not  only,  but  the  life  of  the  people  as  well, 
setting  forth  in  a  way  which  no  one  can  gainsay  the 
power  of  the  grace  of  God  to  renew  the  heart  and  to 
revolutionize  the  character  and  life.  I  refer  to  the  Fiji 
Islands,  and  to  the  results  wrought  there  by  the  gospel. 
Within  two  generations  the  entire  population  has  been 
transformed  from  the  degradation  of  cannibalism  and 
kindred  evils  to  a  civilized,  Christianized  condition.  The 
large  majority  of  them  have  become  attendants  upon  the 
sanctuary.  The  dominant  and  controlling  influences  in 
the  Islands  are  decidedly  Christian. 

The  primitive  darkness  of  those  islands  was  dense. 
While  all  aborigines  of  the  Pacific  were  barbarous,  the 
Fijis  were  preeminently  so.  The  very  name  Fiji  was 
a  synonym  for  whatever  is  inhuman.  A  full  description 
of  their  former  condition  cannot  be  given.  The  mis- 
sionaries who  labored  among  them  declare  that  they  saw 
scenes  too  horrible  to  be  described,  too  full  of  fiendish 
cruelty  to  be  imagined.  Infanticide  was  so  common  that 
two-thirds  of  the  children,  especially  female  children,  were 
put  to  death.  A  mother  would  often  strangle  her  own 
child,  and  then  herself  dig  a  grave  and  bury  it.  The 


FOREIGN    MISSIONS 


233 


aged,  infirm  and  sick  were  generally  put  to  death.  Few 
people,  indeed,  died  in  a  natural  way,  and  few  attained 
to  old  age.  Those  who  became  widows  were  at  once 
strangled.  It  was  the  privilege  of  the  oldest  son,  on  the 
death  of  his  father,  to  take  the  lead  in  strangling  his 
mother.  But  the  worst  horror  was  cannibalism,  which 
prevailed  to  an  extent  and  with  horrors  unsurpassed  else- 
where in  the  world.  This  practice  was  encouraged  by  the 
religion  of  the  natives,  the  supposition  being  that  the  gods, 
to  whom  they  offered  their  victims  in  sacrifice,  devoured 
the  spirit,  while  they  themselves  ate  the  bodies.  The 
bodies  of  those  who  were  shipwrecked  and  of  those  who 
were  slain  in  war  or  executed  for  any  cause  by  order  of 
the  chiefs  were  invariably  eaten,  while  for  almost  all 
festivities  human  flesh  was  considered  essential.  There 
was  little  sense  of  the  value  of  human  life.  The  mis- 
sionaries tell  how  one  king  was  accustomed  to  return 
from  tributary  islands  with  bodies  of  infants  hanging 
from  the  yard-arm  of  his  canoe  as  tribute  exacted  for 
food  from  their  parents.  These  revolting  facts,  which 
are  merely  samples  of  multitudes  of  similar  instances  in 
which  the  life  of  the  people  abounded  before  the  introduc- 
tion of  Christianity,  sufficiently  demonstrate  how  low, 
degraded,  barbarous,  inhuman,  was  the  original  condition 
of  the  people  of  these  islands.  Social  life  was  at  its 
lowest  ebb,  the  people  were  fiends,  monsters  of  inhumanity 
and  lust.  If  there  was  ever  a  discouraging,  hopeless 
field  for  reformatory  effort,  it  would  seem  to  have  been 
here.  If  the  gospel  could  transform  the  life  and  character 
of  the  Fijis,  nothing  could  be  too  difficult  for  it  to  attempt. 
Yet  in  spite  of  all  the  obstacles,  Christianity  achieved  in 
the  Fiji  Islands  one  of  the  most  signal  triumphs  of  its 
history.  All  this  barbarism  was  changed,  radically,  com- 
pletely, solely  through  the  influence  of  Christianity.  No 
other  agency  is  claimed  as  having  wrought  this  result. 
And  this  marvelous  transformation  was  brought  about 
within  a  few  years  from  the  time  the  gospel  was  first  made 
known  to  the  natives. 


234  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

The  story  of  the  gospel  among  the  Fijis  is  thrilling.  A 
widespread  epidemic  prevailed  in  one  of  the  islands, 
threatening  to  sweep  off  the  entire  population.  Extra- 
ordinary offerings  were  made  to  the  gods  to  obtain  relief, 
but  without  avail.  One  of  the  chiefs,  having  heard  inci- 
dentally of  the  great  Jehovah  whom  the  natives  of  the 
Society  Islands  had  been  taught  to  worship,  persuaded 
the  people  in  their  despair  to  undertake  the  worship  of 
this  new  god.  They  did  so,  but  finding  themselves  in 
need  of  instruction,  Christian  teachers  were  sent  for,  and 
thus  the  work  among  them  was  definitely  begun.  From 
this  time  it  went  rapidly  forward.  In  a  few  years  almost 
the  entire  population  of  the  island  united  with  the  church, 
and  many  went  forth  as  missionaries  to  other  islands  of 
the  group  until  at  length  they  were  all  evangelized.  This 
result  was  not  brought  about  without  many  hardships, 
sacrifices  and  terrible  experiences  on  the  part  of  the 
faithful  Wesleyan  missionaries,  but  they  persevered  until 
the  wonderful  success  which  crowned  their  labors  was 
realized.  In  a  few  years  heathenism  was  universally 
renounced  and  the  awful  horrors  of  cannibalism  ceased. 
Churches  were  organized,  until  now  nearly  a  thousand  are 
scattered  through  the  Fiji  group.  Schools  were  estab- 
lished, a  Christian  literature  was  introduced,  and  all  the 
forms  of  Christian  civilization  were  adopted.  Whereas 
two  generations  ago  there  was  not  a  single  Christian  in 
the  Islands,  to-day  there  is  not  an  avowed  heathen.  Miss 
Gordon  Cumming  in  her  book,  "At  Home  in  Fiji,"  has 
remarked  that  it  is  difficult  now  to  imagine  that  this 
people,  with  their  mellifluous  speech  and  almost  Parisian 
manners,  are  the  cannibals  of  less  than  a  century  ago. 
Now,  family  worship  is  observed  in  almost  every  home, 
and  the  people  are  conducting  mission  enterprises  with 
enthusiasm  in  the  pagan  islands  farther  west.  No  more 
remarkable  transformation  has  ever  been  reported  in  the 
annals  of  missions.  It  seems  as  if  Providence  had 
selected  a  people  in  the  worst  conceivable  condition  among 


FOREIGN    MISSIONS  235 

whom  to  accomplish  a  work  which  should  stand  for  all 
time  as  an  illustration  before  the  world  of  the  marvel- 
ous power  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  revolutionize  life 
and  character,  to  revolutionize  society,  to  uplift  and 
elevate  men  in  every  respect. 

This  is  a  simple,  concrete  example  which  shows  the 
nature  of  foreign  missionary  work,  its  aims  and  its  results. 
If  it  is  exceptionally  striking,  it  is  so  because  of  the  awful 
condition  of  the  islanders  when  the  gospel  was  first 
brought  to  them,  and  it  shows  all  the  more  forcibly  its 
tremendous  innate  energy  and  transforming  power. 
Many  other  examples  illustrating  the  same  results  are 
available,  some  almost  as  remarkable,  but  this  will 
suffice.  Not  all  the  peoples  to  whom  the  missionaries 
go  are  by  any  means  as  debased  as  were  the  Fijis,  nor  are 
the  results  in  all  cases  as  marked,  or  the  contrasts  as 
pronounced,  but  everywhere  the  effects  are  the  same  in 
kind,  morally,  spiritually,  even  materially,  wherever 
the  gospel  gains  a  foothold. 

Fifty  years  ago  there  was  not  a  Christian  in  the  New 
Hebrides.  Now  twenty  of  the  islands  of  the  group  have 
been  evangelized.  Seventy-five  years  ago  there  was  not 
a  convert  in  all  Polynesia.  Now  the  number  is  more 
than  100,000,  with  at  least  half  a  million  adherents. 
There  was  not  a  native  Christian  in  the  Friendly  Islands 
half  a  century  ago.  Now  there  are  more  than  30,000 
church-members.  In  the  Micronesian  Islands  there  are 
now  about  fifty  self-supporting  churches  and  more  than 
5000  professing  Christians.  Less  than  a  generation  ago 
there  was  not  a  native  convert  in  the  Islands.  The  story 
of  missions  in  New  Zealand,  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  in 
the  Society  group,  is  marvelously  interesting.  Three 
hundred  of  the  Pacific  islands  are  now  evangelized. 
Early  in  the  century  Madagascar  was  a  nation  of  fierce 
idolaters.  The  first  missionaries  were  told  that  they 
might  as  well  try  to  convert  cattle  as  the  natives  of  Mada- 
gascar. The  most  inhuman  cruelties  were  practiced  upon 


236  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

the  first  converts,  and  as  late  as  1857  two  thousand  native 
Christians  were  put  to  death  for  their  faith.  But  out  of 
that  period  of  terrible  persecution  a  host  of  believers  came 
forth.  Persecution  did  not  stop  the  work.  In  the  end 
it  promoted  the  cause  of  Christ.  As  is  usually  the  case, 
the  blood  of  the  martyrs  was  the  seed  of  the  Church. 
Now  the  number  of  believers  on  the  island  is  reported  at 
1 14,000,  with  nearly  half  a  million  adherents.  More  than 
5000  ordained  and  native  preachers  are  at  work  in  Mada- 
gascar to-day. 

By  the  latest  statistics,  285  Protestant  and  34  Roman 
Catholic  societies  are  represented  in  mission  work  in  the 
Dark  Continent,  all  pressing  toward  the  center,  and  en- 
couraged by  the  results  already  secured.  The  Bible,  or 
portions  of  it,  has  already  been  translated  into  many  of 
the  languages  of  Africa.  In  India  Christian  converts  are 
scattered  through  more  than  6000  native  villages,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  work  in  the  important  centers.  Hundreds 
of  printing-presses  are  supplying  the  people  with  a 
Christian  literature,  and  the  old  pagan  systems  are  show- 
ing signs  of  increasing  decrepitude.  In  Burmah  there 
was  not  a  Christian  seventy-five  years  ago.  Now  there 
are  not  far  from  100,000  believers.  The  Baptists  alone 
have  five  hundred  churches  and  nearly  30,000  communi- 
cants. A  generation  ago  there  was  not  a  score  of 
Christian  converts  in  Japan.  Now  they  are  numbered 
by  the  thousands,  with  hundreds  of  churches,  many 
schools  and  colleges,  and  over  500  young  men  studying 
for  the  ministry.  The  great  empire  of  China  has  been 
invaded  by  missionaries  in  all  directions,  and  Christian 
work  has  gained  a  strong  foothold.  This  is  doing  much 
toward  arousing  the  sluggish,  stagnant  life  of  the  native 
millions.  In  1843  only  six  Christians  could  be  found  in 
the  empire.  Now  there  are  more  than  half  a  hundred 
missionary  societies  at  work,  employing  more  than  2400 
missionaries  and  more  than  5000  native  laborers.  The 
work  of  missions  is  flourishing  in  Turkey.  Some  of  the 


FOREIGN    MISSIONS  237 

educational  institutions  which  have  been  established  by 
American  missionaries  are  of  as  high  grade  as  similar 
institutions  at  home.  Thousands  of  children  and  young 
people  are  being  trained  in  these  schools.  The  past  few 
years  have  been  unparalleled  in  the  record  of  revivals  and 
accessions  to  the  churches  in  the  empire.  The  recent 
massacres,  instead  of  retarding  the  work,  seem  to  have 
given  it  a  new  impulse. 

This  rapid  survey  of  some  of  the  prominent  mission 
fields  affords  a  glimpse — only  a  glimpse — into  the  nature, 
extent  and  success  of  foreign  missionary  work  as  car- 
ried on  to-day.  Many  of  the  beneficent  effects  will  only 
be  disclosed  in  eternity.  Were  we  to  estimate  results  as 
indicated  by  numbers  converted,  which  is  only  a  phase 
of  these  results,  it  might  be  said  that  as  a  fruit  of  the 
first  century  of  missions  (  for  modern  missions  began  with 
William  Carey  one  hundred  years  ago)  to-day  a  million 
and  a  half  members  of  mission  churches  are  reported,  with 
perhaps  5,000,000  adherents,  and  millions  more  who,  to 
a  greater  or  less  degree,  are  under  the  influence  of 
Christian  ideas,  the  Christian  spirit,  and  Christian  in- 
fluences in  one  form  or  another. 

Were  our  estimate  of  the  results  of  foreign  mission 
work  to  be  based  upon  the  agencies  employed  to  carry  it 
on,  it  could  be  said  that  whereas  one  hundred  years  ago 
there  were  not  in  all  Christendom  a  half-dozen  foreign 
missionary  societies,  now  there  are  nearly  three  hundred, 
representing  all  the  Protestant  denominations  in 
Europe  and  America.  In  some  cases  missionary  societies 
have  been  formed  among  the  converted  natives  of  these 
missionary  lands,  to  carry  on  the  work  in  regions  yet  more 
remote.  Twelve  thousand  Protestant  missionaries  are  at 
work  in  the  various  fields,  with  over  60,000  native 
preachers  and  teachers  assisting  them.  Bibles  have  been 
translated  into  four  hundred  different  languages  and  dia- 
lects. Christian  institutions  have  been  widely  es- 
tablished— churches,  schools  of  all  grades,  printing- 


POPULAR  MISCONCEPTIONS 


houses— a  Christian  literature  introduced  and  the  work  is 
all  the  time  extending  and  expanding  and  becoming  more 
permanent.  What  an  army  of  Christian  workers  from 
different  lands,  what  mighty  agencies  are  being  employed, 
what  tremendous  moral  and  spiritual  forces  are  in  opera- 
tion for  the  world's  evangelization ! — all  sustained  by  the 
sympathies  and  prayers  and  voluntary  offerings  of  mil- 
lions of  Christian  people  at  home,  and  all  prompted  by  the 
pure,  unselfish  love  of  Christ  in  the  human  heart,  with  a 
view  to  giving  the  gospel  of  Christ  and  the  blessings  of  a 
Christian  civilization  to  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Who 
can  question  the  ultimate  outcome  of  such  a  world-wide, 
world-embracing  movement  ?  In  some  lands  the  work  is 
already  practically  done;  they  have  been  Christianized 
within  the  past  century.  In  others,  the  darkness  is 
gradually  being  penetrated,  deep-seated  prejudices  are  be- 
ing uprooted,  debasing  superstitions  are  giving  way, 
hoary  pagan  systems  are  crumbling,  and  the  influence  of 
Christianity  is  being  more  and  more  felt.  What  is  aimed 
at  will  not  come  about  in  a  day,  but  the  gospel  agency  is 
abundantly  adequate  to  accomplish  the  evangelization  of 
the  world  in  due  time.  It  is  only  those  who  refuse  to  see 
who  declare  mission  work  to  be  a  failure.  On  the  con- 
trary, no  enterprise  of  the  world  has  been  more  successful, 
or  can  show  such  gratifying  results.  No  work  since  the 
apostolic  days  has  been  attended  with  such  marks  of  the 
divine  favor  as  the  work  of  foreign  missions,  while  now 
the  barriers  to  its  progress  are  everywhere  broken  down, 
and  hundreds  and  thousands  of  young  men  and  women 
are  offering  themselves  to  engage  in  it.  The  truth  is, 
no  objection  can  be  urged  against  foreign  mission  work, 
which  is  not  equally  valid  against  Christianity  itself.  It 
is  sure  to  triumph.  Christ's  kingdom  will  come.  In 
the  fine  and  forceful  language  of  Secretary  Judson  Smith, 
of  the  American  Board : 

"It  needs  no  superior  insight,  but  the  single  eye  of  can- 
dor to  discern  that  the  power  which  once  transfigured  the 


FOREIGN    MISSIONS 


239 


pagan  empire  of  the  Caesars  and  laid  the  spell  of  the  gospel 
on  the  rising  nations  of  Europe,  the  power  which  for 
eighteen  centuries  has  trod  one  uniform  path  of  progress 
and  increasing  sway  over  the  forces  of  the  human  mind 
and  of  human  life,  is  to-day  making  resistless  inroads 
upon  all  the  great  nations  and  peoples  of  the  East,  and  is 
advancing  with  every  wheeling  year  to  universal  su- 
premacy on  earth.  Dangers,  seeming  defeats,  temporary 
disasters,  do  not  daunt  it  or  stay  its  course.  Like  the 
tide,  which  obeys  a  heavenly  impulse  and  steadily  ad- 
vances on  the  shore  until  it  whelms  beneath  its  waters 
every  rock  and  headland  that  lies  within  its  path,  this 
onward  movement  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  pauses  not, 
rests  not,  knows  no  impossibilities,  and  feels  no  check. 
They  who  resist  it  must  yield  or  be  overthrown.  They 
who  move  with  it  march  on  to  the  conquests  of  the  earth 
and  to  the  ceaseless  joys  of  heaven !" 


BOOK  IV 
THE   DIVINE  SOURCE 


XIV 

POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS    AS    TO    THE    NATURE 
AND    WORK    OF    THE    HOLY    SPIRIT 

In  the  treatment  of  the  topics  we  have  now  considered, 
we  have  constantly  kept  in  mind  our  dependence  upon 
God  and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  We  have  not  failed  to 
emphasize  the  importance  of  the  constant  use  of  Scripture 
for  personal  growth  in  grace,  and  the  need  of  constant 
communion  with  God  through  faith  and  prayer.  These 
are  the  divine  sources  to  which  we  may  and  must  resort  if 
we  realize  in  our  Christian  life,  in  however  feeble  a 
measure,  the  ideals  we  cherish.  But  there  is  another 
aspect  of  the  divine  help  which  we  need  to  consider,  viz : — 
the  aid  which  comes  to  us  through  the  Holy  Spirit. 

In  planning  a  military  campaign,  it  is  important  to 
know  definitely  what  resources  are  available  for  support, 
what  supplies  in  men  and  in  munitions  of  war  may  be 
relied  upon,  what  reinforcements  are  within  reach  if 
occasion  should  demand.  It  is  no  less  essential  in  plan- 
ning aggressive  spiritual  movements  to  understand  the 
means  to  be  employed,  the  weapons,  the  available  supplies, 
the  inspirations  which  may  be  brought  to  bear,  in  order  to 
meet  and  overthrow  the  spiritual  enemy.  Recognizing 
our  dependence  upon  the  Holy  Spirit  for  needed  equip- 
ment, for  effective  Christian  service,  for  impulse,  for 
strength,  for  wisdom  to  direct,  it  may  be  of  advantage  to 
call  attention  to  a  few  phases  of  his  office  and  work.  In 
this  effort  to  set  forth  the  New  Testament  teaching  upon 
the  subject,  we  shall  hope  to  correct  various  erroneous  and 
mischievous  views  which  are  more  or  less  widely  prevalent 
in  regard  to  his  nature  and  work.  The  attempt  will  not 
be  to  present  new  things,  but  to  emphasize  truths  which 

243 


244 


POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 


are  intimately  related  to  spiritual  progress,  whether  as 
pertaining  to  the  individual,  or  to  Christian  work,  locally 
or  in  its  world-wide  aspects. 

Christ's  teaching  as  to  the  Holy  Spirit  is  one  of  the 
most  distinctive  features  of  his  gospel.  It  is  really  the 
practical  working  doctrine  of  the  Christian  life  and  the 
Christian  Church.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  embodiment  of 
all  spiritual  energy,  illumination  and  power.  His  mar- 
velous workings  are  especially  illustrated  in  the  Book  of 
Acts — which  might  not  improperly  be  called  the  Book  of 
the  Acts  of  the  Holy  Spirit — and  his  displays  of  energy 
from  time  to  time  in  the  history  of  the  Church  have  been 
hardly  less  remarkable  than  in  the  first  century  of  our  era. 
The  doctrine  appears  in  the  Old  Testament  only  in  a 
rudimentary  form,  which  is  true,  indeed,  of  most  of  the 
great  doctrines,  but  it  blossoms  out  in  the  fulness  of  its 
perfection  in  the  New  Testament.  It  is  most  clearly  set 
forth  in  the  farewell  discourses  of  our  Lord  to  his  dis- 
ciples. The  Holy  Spirit  was  to  be  his  invisible  repre- 
sentative in  the  world  after  his  departure  from  it;  was  to 
carry  forward  and  complete  the  work  which  he  had  begun, 
and  which,  since  his  ascension,  has  been  enlarging  and 
expanding  with  each  succeeding  century. 

Yet,  important  as  this  doctrine  is, — and  it  is  vital  to  the 
progress  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  this  world, — it  seems 
to  be  one  little  appreciated,  one  concerning  which  there 
are  many  misconceptions  on  the  part  of  many  Christian 
people  and  many  Christian  churches.  The  teaching  of 
the  Bible  in  regard  to  God  the  Father  is  recognized  and 
magnified,  so  is  its  teaching  in  regard  to  God  the  Son, 
but  although  this  teaching  is  almost  if  not  equally  strong 
and  explicit  in  regard  to  God  the  Holy  Spirit,  there  seems 
to  be  a  strange  reluctance  to  accept  it  in  its  full 
significance,  or  to  regard  the  Holy  Spirit  himself  as  any- 
thing more  than  an  influence,  an  impersonal  "it."  It 
may  be — doubtless  it  is  the  case — that  the  lack  of 
spiritual  aggressiveness  and  power  on  the  part  of 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT  245 

many  of  our  churches  to-day,  of  so  many  individual 
Christians,  and  the  cause  of  so  much  spiritual 
feebleness  and  barrenness  of  results,  is  to  be  traced  to  this 
practical  unbelief  in  God  the  Holy  Spirit.  We  are  by  no 
means  to  honor  God  the  Father  and  God  the  Son  any  less 
than  we  do,  but  it  is  important  to  understand,  to  ap- 
preciate, and  to  honor  God  the  Holy  Spirit  a  great  deal 
more  than  we  do.  "Them  that  honor  me,  I  will  honor," 
is  as  true  with  reference  to  God  the  Holy  Spirit  as  to  God 
the  Father  and  God  the  Son. 

i.  First,  then,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  described  in  the 
New  Testament  as  a  person.  He  is  called  another  Com- 
forter, an  Advocate,  invisible  yet  real.  He  is  sent  by  the 
Father  in  Christ's  name,  although  in  one  place  (John 
16:7)  Christ  himself  is  said  to  send  him.  He  is  to 
bring  to  the  remembrance  of  the  disciples  what  Christ 
had  taught  them,  and  to  prepare  them  for  their  great  re-^ 
sponsibility.  Personal  pronouns  are  applied  to  him.  It 
is  always  "he"  or  "him."  "Howbeit  when  he,  the 
Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  shall  guide  you  into  all  the 
truth:  for  he  shall  not  speak  from  himself;  but  what 
things  soever  he  shall  hear,  these  shall  he  speak:  and  he 
shall  declare  unto  you  the  things  that  are  to  come.  He 
shall  glorify  me :  for  he  shall  take  of  mine,  and  shall  de- 
clare it  unto  you"  (John  16:  13,  14).  The  name  is 
used  about  fifty  times  in  the  Book  of  Acts,  and  always  as 
if  a  person  were  referred  to. 

Moody  says  that  he  was  a  Christian  at  least  ten  years 
before  he  believed  the  Holy  Spirit  to  be  a  person. 
Once  when  at  church  he  heard  an  aged  minister  say  this, 
and  thought  surely  he  must  be  wrong.  On  going  home, 
he  took  his  Bible  and  began  diligently  to  study  it,  in  order 
to  determine  the  truth  of  the  matter.  The  result  was, 
he  was  fully  convinced  that  the  Bible  teaches  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  as  much  a  person  as  God  the  Father 
and  God  the  Son  are  persons.  He  is  invisible,  but  so  is 
God  the  Father  and  God  the  Son,  yet  this  is  nothing 


246  POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 

against  his  personality.  A  recognition  of  this  fact  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  a  divine  person,  with  all  the  attributes 
of  divinity,  instead  of  being  a  mere  impersonal  influence, 
is  of  the  utmost  importance. 

One  of  the  functions  of  this  invisible  yet  real  and  divine 
Spirit  was  to  preside  over  and  to  direct  the  operations  of 
the  new  and  developing  spiritual  kingdom  which  Christ 
had  founded.  His  presence  would  be  recognized  by  cer- 
tain unmistakable  signs.  He  would  influence  believers 
to  go  here  and  there,  and  would  gird  them  for  their  re- 
sponsibilities. He  would  inspire  great  movements  within 
the  Church,  like  world-embracing  missionary  endeavors. 
All  that  Christ  could  have  done,  had  he  remained  on  the 
earth,  the  Holy  Spirit  would  do,  and  even  more.  He 
could  be  everywhere,  while  Christ  and  his  disciples  were 
restricted  in  their  movements.  All  through  the  Book  of 
Acts  we  see  how  every  step  of  the  work  was  directed  by 
the  one  presiding  Spirit.  It  was  the  Spirit  who  accom- 
plished that  mighty  work  at  Pentecost;  it  was  the  Spirit 
who  called  Paul  and  Barnabas  to  the  missionary  service, 
saying,  "Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work 
whereunto  I  have  called  them."  It  was  the  Spirit  who 
directed  them  as  they  went  forth  upon  their  mission.  It 
was  the  Spirit  who  told  Philip  to  go  and  join  himself  to 
the  chariot  of  the  Ethiopian  eunuch.  It  was  the  Spirit 
who  said  to  Peter,  "Behold,  three  men  seek  thee."  All 
this  is  very  striking,  but  it  is  constantly  brought  out  in  the 
Book  of  Acts.  The  Spirit  was  ever  present,  always 
directing  in  all  the  spiritual  enterprises  which  were  under- 
taken, and  giving  them  success. 

What  the  Spirit  did  in  the  days  of  Paul,  he  has  been 
doing  ever  since — working  in  and  through  believers,  and 
in  and  through  his  Church  in  its  different  branches, 
exerting  also  an  influence  upon  the  hearts  of  men  every- 
where. He  still  continues  to  direct  the  affairs  of  the  king- 
dom, inciting  men  to  engage  in  missionary  work  at  home 
and  abroad,  seeking  to  compass  the  same  world-wide  ends 


THE   HOLY    SPIRIT 


247 


which  Christ  would  have  done  had  he  remained  on  earth. 
We  are  living  in  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit.  This 
dispensation  began  at  Pentecost  when  he  came  in  power. 
He  has  remained  in  the  world  ever  since,  supreme  in  the 
Church,  the  vicar  of  Christ.  This  oversight  and  direction 
of  Christ's  spiritual  kingdom  by  the  Spirit  will  con- 
tinue, in  harmony  with  the  divine  plans,  until  the  rule 
of  Christ  is  everywhere  triumphant,  and  he  himself  shall 
come  again  in  glory. 

2.  Notice,  next,  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  with 
individuals.  All  his  work,  it  is  true,  is  with  individuals, 
but  we  are  now  to  examine  some  phases  of  it  in  particular. 
He  was  to  work  upon  and  within  and  through,  or  by 
means  of  individuals.  He  was  to  convince  or  convict 
men  of  their  sins  and  their  need  of  Christ,  and  persuade 
them,  if  possible,  to  turn  to  him.  He  was  to  originate 
and  then  to  nourish  a  new  life  within  their  souls.  He 
was  to  sanctify,  cleanse,  make  holy  and  Christlike;  to  be 
an  inward  helper;  to  qualify  men  for  effective  service, 
enduing  them  with  energy  and  power.  In  all  this,  he 
was  to  glorify  Christ;  this  was  his  preeminent  function. 
He  was  not  to  exalt  himself,  but  Christ — to  reveal,  to 
honor,  to  glorify  him.  Observe: — 

(i)  The  convictive  work  of  the  Spirit,  or  his  work 
on  the  sinner's  heart;  its  nature,  and  the  supreme  end  in 
view. 

This  phase  of  the  Spirit's  work  is  to  lead  the  unbeliever 
to  realize  his  sinful  condition  before  a  holy  God,  his  need 
of  a  Saviour,  and  to  persuade  him  to  accept  Christ,  and 
thus  find  forgiveness,  peace  and  hope  in  him.  It  is  to 
bring  one  to  a  recognition  of  the  truth  concerning  him- 
self, to  reveal  a  person  to  himself,  that  he  may  see  what  his 
relation  to  God  is.  One  is  thus  led  to  perceive  how  it  is 
possible  to  be  outwardly  moral  while  yet  one's  secret  spirit 
or  purpose  is  at  variance  with  God's  will.  Realizing  his 
condition,  his  conscience  condemns  him,  and  he  feels  that 
God*s  frown  rests  upon  him.  He  sees,  too,  that  he  is  in 


248  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

bondage  to  an  evil  nature  or  principle,  from  which  he  can- 
not break  away,  and  he  realizes  that,  without  help  from 
outside  and  above  himself,  he  is  lost.  If  one  is  ever, 
from  any  cause,  led  to  feel  this  anxiety  in  regard  to  his 
spiritual  condition,  to  recognize  his  sinfulness,  to  desire 
forgiveness,  to  long  for  a  pure  life  within,  and  to  devote 
himself  to  the  service  of  God,  it  is  because  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  been  at  work  in  his  heart.  Yet  all  this  avails 
nothing  save  as  one  is  led  to  form  a  purpose  to  turn  from 
his  past,  to  seek  Christ,  and  to  enter  upon  a  new  life.  This 
is  what  the  Spirit  prompts  him  to  do  when  convicting  him 
of  sin. 

It  has  been  found  that  some  of  the  ancient  MSS.  which 
modern  research  has  brought  to  light  were  written  over 
by  a  medieval  scribe  with  the  treatises  of  a  monkish  theo- 
logian. Thus  the  gospel,  or  epistle,  or  other  book  of 
Scripture  originally  engrossed  on  the  parchment  was  ob- 
scured. By  the  application  of  a  chemical  substance,  these 
original  sacred  records  have  been  reproduced,  and  are  now 
employed  as  authority  in  settling  the  reading  of  disputed 
passages  of  Scripture.  The  human  heart  has  been  called 
a  palimpsest.  The  law  of  God  originally  written  on  it, 
has  been  written  over  and  obscured  by  sin,  so  that  the 
original  is  scarcely  traceable.  Yet  somehow,  by  the 
divine  alchemy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  this  is  brought  to  light, 
and  one  is  led  to  see  what  he  is,  what  he  ought  to  become, 
and  that  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  one  and  only 
guide  which  he  can  safely  follow. 

(2)  Nor  may  we  overlook  the  sanctifying  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  It  seems  marvelous,  when  we  think  of 
it,  what  the  Spirit  does  in  seeking  to  lead  the  sinner  to 
Christ.  It  is  an  evidence  of  the  exhaustless  and  yearn- 
ing love  of  God,  who  does  in  this  way  all  that  can  be  done 
short  of  actually  compelling  the  will — which  he  never 
does — to  save  a  soul  from  sin,  from  its  fearful  ravages, 
from  its  eternal  consequences.  But  even  after  a  soul 
yields,  and  the  new  life  is  begun — a  life  of  new  aims, 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT 


249 


new  hopes,  new  affections,  new  activities — the  Holy 
Spirit  by  no  means  ceases  his  work.  He  continues  to 
operate  within  the  heart,  to  nourish  and  sustain  the  new 
life,  and  to  carry  forward  a  gradually  transforming 
process,  cleansing,  renewing,  making  over,  developing  a 
Christlikeness  of  character  and  spirit,  a  process  which 
lasts  as  long  as  life.  We  all  know  well  the  need  of 
such  a  work  as  this.  Our  natural  tendencies  are  away 
from  God,  and  when  we  become  Christians  all  the  evil 
in  our  hearts  is  by  no  means  rooted  out.  The  new  life 
needs  constant  care;  impulses  of  evil  have  not  been 
entirely  subdued;  the  motives  need  to  be  purified,  and  the 
whole  life  to  be  brought  increasingly  under  the  power  of 
Christ.  Such  a  work  cannot  be  brought  about  in  a 
moment;  it  is  a  life  process.  Nor  can  one  accomplish  it 
in  his  own  strength.  It  can  only  be  effected  by  the 
inworking  presence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

As  the  work  goes  on,  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  begin  to 
appear.  These  fruits  are  referred  to  in  Paul's  Epistle  to 
the  Galatians,  and  their  nature  is  indicated  in  the  words, 
"love,  joy,  peace,  longsuffering,  kindness,  goodness, 
faithfulness,  meekness,  temperance;  against  such  there  is 
no  law"  (Gal.  5;  22,  23).  In  these  fruits  we  have  the 
practical  "witness  of  the  Spirit,"  that  he  is  in  the  heart 
and  working  there  to  promote  holiness  of  character  and 
life. 

(3)  We  notice,  thirdly,  another  phase  of  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  He  endues  the  believer  with  energy, 
impulse,  power  to  qualify  him  for  effectiveness  in  Chris- 
tian service.  The  convictive  work  of  the  Spirit  is  a 
reality  in  the  experience.  So  is  his  sanctifying  work 
within  the  heart.  In  like  manner,  the  anointing  or 
energizing  of  the  believer  by  the  Spirit  is  also  a  reality 
for  such  as  will  receive  it.  The  service  which  the  early 
believers  were  to  render  was  mainly  that  of  witness-bear- 
ing. They  were  to  give  personal  testimony  to  the  divine 
character  of  Christ  as  disclosed  to  them  through  his  life, 


250 


POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 


his  words,  his  works,  crowning  and  confirming  all  by  his 
resurrection,  and  by  what  they  knew  experimentally  of 
the  power  of  the  grace  of  God  to  convert  and  save.  It 
was  by  this  method,  primarily,  viz :  witness-bearing,  that 
Christ's  kingdom  was  to  be  promoted  among  men.  "Ye 
are  my  witnesses,"  says  God  in  Isaiah  (43:  12),  i.  e.,  to 
testify  of  my  faithful  dealing,  to  my  fidelity,  to  my 
promises,  to  the  truth  of  what  I  have  made  known  to 
you.  You  are  to  testify  of  these  things  to  others,  that 
they  also  may  be  convinced  and  led  to  believe  in  me  and 
be  loyal  to  my  cause.  In  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  we  have  a  long  and  illustrious  roll 
of  these  witnesses,  most  of  whom  sealed  their  testimony 
with  their  blood. 

The  disciples  of  Christ  were  to  be  witnesses  of  him  to 
others,  making  known  his  message  of  salvation,  that  they 
also  might  believe  and  be  saved.  They  were  to  testify 
to  what  they  personally  knew,  and  this  testimony  accom- 
panied by  the  Spirit  would,  more  than  anything  else,  lead 
to  the  multiplication  of  believers,  and  hasten  the  triumph 
of  Christ's  kingdom.  There  would  be  times  when  argu- 
ment would  be  needed.  Various  forms  of  Christian 
service,  calling  all  their  powers  into  requisition,  would  be 
required,  yet  simple  witness-bearing  was  to  be  the  agency, 
specially  relied  upon,  for  establishing  Christ's  kingdom 
on  earth. 

But  the  disciples  were  not  at  once  prepared  to  go  forth 
upon  their  mission.  Their  faith  was  weak;  their  con- 
victions were  far  from  strong  and  unwavering;  they  were 
not  filled  with  the  mighty  impulse  needed  for  so  great  an 
undertaking;  they  were  not  ready  to  cope  with  the  difficul- 
ties and  discouragements  which  were  certain  to  overtake 
them;  they  were  not  qualified  to  preach  with  spiritual 
power,  or  to  do  effective  personal  work.  This  the  Saviour 
well  knew.  So  he  bade  them  tarry  in  Jerusalem  until 
they  were  endued  with  the  impulse  and  power  which  he 
had  promised  to  impart.  They  did  so,  as  is  graphically 


THE  HOLY    SPIRIT  2$1 

set  forth  in  the  story  of  Pentecost.  Day  after  day  they 
met  and  prayed  for  the  one  thing  which  was  lacking  to 
complete  their  preparation.  The  blessing  came.  The 
Spirit  was  poured  out.  The  effect  upon  the  disciples  was 
marvelous,  electrical.  After  this  there  was  no  more 
hesitancy  or  wavering.  Now  they  were  strong  in  the 
faith.  Their  spiritual  insight  was  clear;  their  convictions 
were  deep  and  mighty;  their  tongues  were  unloosed,  and 
they  were  conscious  of  a  powerful  impulse  from  within  to 
engage  in  active  effort  for  the  cause  of  Him  they  loved. 
Now  they  could  bear  witness  unfalteringly  in  the  face  of 
difficulties  and  dangers.  They  could  testify  for  Christ 
everywhere  with  effectiveness  and  power,  and  this  they 
did  to  the  end  of  their  lives. 

The  same  responsibility  rests  upon  Christian  disciples 
still,  according  to  their  ability  and  opportunity.  They 
are  to  testify  to  the  things  which  they  know  in  their  own 
experience  of  the  power  of  the  grace  of  God  in  Jesus 
Christ.  They  are  to  do  this,  not  alone  in  the  prayer- 
meeting,  nor  simply  by  their  silent  example,  but  by  word 
of  mouth  as  opportunity  offers,  and  in  all  consistent  ways, 
both  direct  and  indirect.  Christianity  would  have  made 
far  more  rapid  progress  in  the  world  if  Christ's  disciples 
had  only  recognized  their  responsibility  in  this  respect, 
and  had  more  faithfully  sought  to  meet  it. 

Why  have  they  not  done  this,  and  done  it  more 
generally?  Why  is  there  so  little  impulse  to  do  it? 
Why  are  Christian  people  so  reluctant  and  so  timid? 
Why  does  the  cause  of  Christ  so  often  languish?  It  is 
simply  because  Christians  have  not  sufficiently  appreciated 
their  mission  as  witness-bearers,  and  have  not  sought 
or  experienced  the  energizing  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
adequately  to  qualify  them  for  this  service,  and  impel 
them  to  engage  in  it.  This  is  why  so  comparatively  little 
aggressive  Christian  work  is  rendered.  It  is  because 
there  is  so  little  of  this  divine  anointing  on  the  part  of 
Christian  people  and  Christian  ministers  and  churches. 


252 


POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 


There  is  plenty  of  organization  and  abundance  of 
machinery.  All  the  elements  of  efficiency  exist  save  this. 
There  is  lack  of  power.  It  is  like  mills  which  need  to 
have  the  water  turned  on  to  set  them  in  motion;  like 
vessels  with  sails  spread,  but  with  no  wind  to  propel 
them ;  like  an  engine  attached  to  a  train,  but  with  no  steam 
to  set  it  in  motion;  like  cable-cars  on  the  track  but  not 
attached  to  the  cable;  like  a  trolley-car  not  connected  with 
the  electric  current. 

But  the  power  of  God  is  abundant,  even  limitless,  and 
it  is  available  for  every  believer  who  will  receive  it,  to 
qualify  him  to  engage  effectively  in  witness-bearing,  or 
in  any  other  form  of  Christian  service  for  which  he  is 
adapted,  and  to  which  he  may  be  called.  "Ye  shall 
receive  power,  when  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you" 
(Acts  i;  8).  This  is  the  promise  which  Christ  made  to 
his  disciples.  This  promise  was  fulfilled,  and  the  power 
which  came  upon  them  is  for  us  in  our  measure,  if  we 
fulfil  the  conditions  upon  which  it  is  promised.  There 
may  be  no  miraculous  accompaniments,  as  at  Pentecost — 
no  such  necessity  now  exists — but  the  power  will  be 
granted  in  the  degree  which  our  exigencies  require, 
if  with  the  faith,  the  consecration,  the  longing  desire,  the 
earnest  and  continued  prayer  of  the  disciples  we  plead 
with  the  Father  in  Christ's  name  for  the  gift  of  his  Spirit. 

(4)  Another  consideration,  whose  importance  calls 
for  special  notice,  and  concerning  which  many  make 
mistake,  has  reference  to  the  nature  or  kind  of  service 
for  which  the  Spirit  energizes  the  believer.  Is  this 
service  to  be  all  of  the  same  kind?  Are  all  who  are 
anointed  of  God  by  his  Spirit  to  engage  in  the  same 
sort  of  activity?  Is  it  to  be  witness-bearing  alone?  By 
no  means.  The  same  diversity  appears  here  which  is 
manifested  in  every  other  sphere  of  activity.  Men  have 
differing  natural  gifts,  different  temperaments,  different 
individualities,  and  these  differences  are  not  obliterated 
by  the  operation  of  the  Spirit.  Rather  are  they  intensi- 
fied through  his  quickening  influence.1 


THE  HOLY    SPIRIT 


253 


Yet  many  seem  to  imagine  that  the  enduement  of  the 
Spirit  is  intended  to  qualify  man  for  one  particular  form 
of  Christian  service  alone,  viz. :  that  pertaining  to  the 
winning  of  souls  to  Christ.  Many  seek  the  heavenly 
anointing  or  baptism  of  which  we  have  been  speaking, 
with  this  as  the  one  and  only  thought.  It  does  not  seem 
to  have  occurred  to  them  that  spiritual  anointing  can  have 
reference  to  anything  else  than  the  winning  of  souls. 
Frequently  ministers  and  other  Christian  workers  agonize 
in  prayer  for  more  power  for  this  special  purpose.  Were 
it  granted,  they  would  certainly  be  able  to  speak  with 
something  of  the  converting  power  which  characterized 
a  Finney.  But  they  overlook  an  important  fact,  viz. : 
that  this  new  spiritual  energy,  ordinarily,  manifests  itself 
along  the  line  of  one's  peculiar  natural  aptitudes.  One 
man  may  be  an  exceptionally  good  pastor,  but  not  effect- 
ive as  a  preacher.  He  may  be  very  successful  in  his 
private  personal  work,  but  not  in  winning  men  to  Christ 
through  public  exhortation.  The  probability  is  that  if 
he  is  anointed  with  spiritual  power  it  will  mainly  appear 
in  connection  with  those  forms  of  service  for  which  he 
has  most  natural  aptitude.  He  will  doubtless  be  greatly 
helped  in  his  preaching  and  in  all  forms  of  Christian 
effort,  but  he  can  hardly  expect  a  miracle  to  be  wrought 
in  his  behalf;  to  be  transformed  into  a  Moody,  for  ex- 
ample, when  his  natural  temperament,  his  tastes,  and  his 
aptitudes  may  all  lie  in  an  altogether  different  direction. 

The  truth  is,  it  was  never  intended  that  all  persons 
should  render  precisely  the  same  kind  of  Christian  service. 
Each  one  is  fitted  for  some  special  form  of  usefulness. 
There  is  ample  scope  for  every  variety  of  it.  One  may 
be  apt  to  teach,  another  may  have  business  qualities, 
another  administrative  abilities,  another  musical  talent, 
another  an  eloquent  tongue,  another  the  power  of  leader- 
ship, another  large  sympathies,  another  social  gifts.  The 
gifts  which  we  possess  by  nature  will  usually  determine 
the  direction  of  most  efficient  service.  When,  in  answer 


POPULAR    MISCONCEPTIONS 


to  earnest  supplication,  the  Spirit  of  God  is  imparted  in 
unusual  measure,  the  probability  is  that  this  energizing 
power  will  be  manifested  chiefly  along  the  line  of  these 
natural  aptitudes.  Latent  powers,  also,  whose  existence 
has  been  unsuspected,  may  be  brought  to  light  through 
the  Spirit's  quickening  influence.  This,  indeed,  is  not 
infrequently  the  case.  But  gifts  entirely  new  are  not 
likely  to  be  imparted.  One  who  has  power  of  song  will 
be  able  to  sing  for  Christ  more  effectively;  one  with  social 
qualities  will  be  able  to  employ  them  more  successfully  for 
Christian  ends;  one  who  has  power  of  leadership  will  be 
able  to  exercise  that  talent  more  wisely  for  the  Master; 
one  person  will  be  qualified  to  minister  more  efficiently  in 
the  sick-chamber;  another  to  speak  in  public  with  greater 
unction  and  power;  another  to  testify  more  helpfully  of 
the  grace  of  Christ;  another  to  be  more  persuasive  in 
efforts  to  win  men  to  him.  All  these  gifts  are  originally 
from  the  Spirit,  and  now,  by  this  special  enduement,  they 
are  energized  or  rendered  more  effective  in  their  exercise, 
by  the  same  agency. 

This  view  harmonizes  perfectly  with  the  teachings  of 
the  sacred  Word.  "Now  there  are  diversities  of  gifts," 
says  Paul,  in  writing  to  the  Corinthian  Christians,  "but 
the  same  Spirit.  And  there  are  diversities  of  ministra- 
tions, and  the  same  Lord.  And  there  are  diversities  of 
workings,  but  the  same  God,  who  worketh  all  things  in  all. 
But  to  each  one  is  given  the  manifestation  of  the  Spirit 
to  profit  withal.  For  to  one  is  given  through  the  Spirit, 
the  word  of  wisdom ;  and  to  another  the  word  of  knowl- 
edge, according  to  the  same  Spirit:  to  another  faith,  in 
the  same  Spirit;  and  to  another  gifts  of  heal- 
ings, in  the  one  Spirit;  and  to  another  workings 
of  miracles ;  and  to  another  prophecy ;  and  to  another  dis- 
cerning of  spirits;  to  another  divers  kinds  of  tongues; 
and  to  another  the  interpretation  of  tongues:  but  all 
these  worketh  the  one  and  the  same  Spirit,  dividing  to 
each  one  severally  even  as  he  will"  (i  Cor.  12;  4-11). 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT 


255 


In  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (Rom.  12:6-8)  Paul 
says  again :  ''And  having  gifts  differing  according  to  the 
grace  that  was  given  to  us,  whether  prophecy,  let  us 
prophesy  according  to  the  proportion  of  our  faith;  or 
ministry,  let  us  give  ourselves  to  our  ministry;  or  he  that 
teacheth,  to  his  teaching;  or  he  that  exhorteth,  to  his 
exhorting;  he  that  giveth,  let  him  do  it  with  liberality; 
he  that  ruleth,  with  diligence;  he  that  showeth  mercy, 
with  cheerfulness."  There  is  a  great  variety  of  mani- 
festations along  different  lines,  but  it  is  one  and  the  same 
Spirit  who  is  back  of,  inspiring,  energizing,  guiding  all. 

The  same  thing  is  true  in  principle  to-day.  The  one 
Spirit  manifests  himself  in  and  through  believers  in 
accordance  with  their  different  temperaments,  natural 
tendencies,  gifts.  When  a  special  anointing  or  endue- 
ment  or  baptism  is  sought  and  experienced  and  a  new 
energy  for  Christian  service  is  imparted,  the  exercise  or 
efficiency  of  these  natural  powers  is  enlarged  and  intensi- 
fied. In  this  way  provision  is  made  for  utilizing  for 
Christian  ends  all  the  abilities,  of  whatever  sort,  which 
men  possess.  In  this  way,  also,  all  necessary  forms  of 
Christian  service  are  provided  for.  The  entire  circle  of 
Christian  activity  is  included.  Were  Christian  people 
everywhere  to  seek  and  realize  this  divine  anointing,  all 
the  forces  of  the  kingdom  would  be  set  to  work,  each  in 
his  appropriate  sphere  of  service;  all  their  special  gifts 
would  be  utilized;  all  varieties  of  Christian  service  would 
receive  their  due  proportion  of  attention;  and  the  early 
triumph  of  Christ's  kingdom  would  be  assured.  Chris- 
tian people  are  not  to  seek  to  promote  their  own  personal 
ends  as  their  chief  aim  in  life,  nor  yet  to  strive  to  do 
impossible  things  in  the  realm  of  Christian  service,  but  it 
is  manifestly  the  clear  duty,  to  say  nothing  of  the  exalted 
privilege,  of  every  disciple  of  Christ  to  seek  such  an 
enduement  of  spiritual  energy  and  power  by  the  Spirit, 
as  to  enable  him  to  do  most  effectively  what  he  is  best 
fitted  by  nature  and  by  grace  to  do  for  the  advancement 
of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom. 


256  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

Thus  we  see  what  the  Biblical  teaching  is  as  to  the 
main  function  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his  relation  to  the 
work  of  redemption  and  to  the  progress  and  final  triumph 
of  Christ's  kingdom.  He  is  a  divine  person,  as  God  the 
Father  and  God  the  Son  are  divine.  He  was  sent  into 
the  world  after  Christ's  departure  from  it,  to  be  his  invisi- 
ble representative,  to  superintend  and  to  administer  the 
spiritual  kingdom  which  he  inaugurated,  until  Christ 
should  come  again.  The  Spirit's  work  was  to  be  pri- 
marily with  the  individual,  to  convict  of  sin,  to  point  to 
Christ  as  Saviour,  and  to  persuade  men  to  accept  Christ; 
to  work  within  the  believer,  to  secure  his  progressive 
sanctification;  to  work  through  him  to  bring  Christian 
influence  to  bear  upon  the  unconverted  and  win  them  to 
Christ.  It  was  the  function  of  the  Spirit,  also,  to  anoint 
believers  with  spiritual  power,  to  qualify  them  for  effect- 
iveness in  Christian  service,  and  to  impart  needed 
wisdom  and  guidance  in  the  same.  The  conditions  of 
receiving  this  spiritual  enduement  or  power  were  a  com- 
plete self-surrender,  a  perfect  consecration,  with  earnest 
and  continued  supplication.  Furthermore,  this  added 
power  was  to  be  employed  for  unselfish  ends  in  connection 
with  the  work  of  the  kingdom.  This  anointing  by  the 
Spirit  would  manifest  itself  chiefly  along  the  lines  of 
natural  aptitudes  or  gifts,  intensifying  and  energizing 
their  action.  We  may  not  be  entirely  clear  as  to  the 
nature  or  extent  of  the  Spirit's  work  in  the  world  at 
large,  but  that  he  is  all  the  time  moving  upon  the  hearts 
of  men,  at  home  and  beyond  the  seas,  and  among  all 
classes  and  conditions  of  people,  preparing  the  way  for 
the  reception  of  the  truth  and  of  Christ  himself  at  length, 
there  can  be  no  question. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  how  great  and  how 
important  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is,  how  vital 
the  relation  of  the  Spirit  himself  to  the  conversion  and 
sanctification  of  men;  to  their  efficiency  in  Christian 
service,  and  to  the  progress  and  final  triumph  of  Christ's 
kingdom  in  the  world. 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT 


257 


Nor  are  the  blessings  of  spiritual  enduement  limited  to 
a  favored  few.  They  are  designed  for  all  who  will 
receive  them.  Every  believer,  however  humble,  who  will 
fulfil  the  necessary  conditions,  may  have  imparted  to  him 
a  new  and  larger  measure  of  grace  and  spiritual  power,  to 
enable  him  to  render  his  life  in  the  largest  degree  useful 
to  the  cause  of  Christ. 

We  also  see  how  the  latent  forces  of  the  individual 
Christian  or  of  a  Christian  church  may  be  developed  and 
utilized.  It  is  through  seeking  a  fresh  anointing  of  the 
Spirit.  Every  person  at  conversion  has  some  measure  of 
divine  anointing,  but  it  is  his  privilege  as  he  continues 
in  this  new  life  to  experience  a  fuller,  more  complete 
enduement,  to  fortify  his  courage,  to  brighten  his  hopes, 
to  enrich  his  experience,  to  quicken  his  activities,  and  to 
enable  him  to  do  the  very  utmost  of  which  he  is  capable 
for  Christ.  It  is  his  privilege  to  have  access  to  all  the 
spiritual  grace  and  power  which  he  is  prepared  to  utilize. 

One  of  the  urgent  needs  of  the  times,  in  all  our  churches, 
is  a  more  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  fact  of  the 
exhaustless  spiritual  resources  which  are  available,  and 
a  more  practical  and  constant  appropriation  of  them. 
With  that,  a  new,  deeper,  richer  spiritual  life  would 
pervade  them.  Then  would  a  new  and  mighty  impulse 
of  Christian  activity  be  manifest  in  them.  Then  would 
latent  energies,  now  slumbering,  be  quickened  into  life 
and  activity.  Then  would  all  forms  of  necessary  Chris- 
tian service  be  more  faithfully  and  energetically  carried 
forward.  Then  would  there  be  added  to  the  churches 
daily,  as  in  apostolic  times,  of  such  as  are  being  saved, 
and  the  cause  of  Christ  everywhere,  the  world  over,  would 
be  mightily  advanced. 

One  or  two  authentic  instances  will  illustrate  both  the 
nature  of  the  Spirit's  energizing  work,  and  the  practical 
character  of  the  results  which  may  be  realized  when  a 
common  desire  and  purpose  exists  among  Christian  people 
to  utilize  the  spiritual  resources  which  have  been  placed 
within  their  reach. 

xvn 


258  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

Some  years  since,  in  one  of  our  largest  and  most  promi- 
nent schools  of  divinity,  a  little  company  of  students,  two 
or  three  only  at  first,  lamenting  the  low  spiritual  condition 
which  seemed  to  prevail  in  the  institution,  resolved  to 
meet  daily  to  pray  for  a  fresh  enduement  of  spiritual 
life  and  power  for  themselves  and  for  all  their  associates, 
who  were  in  preparation  for  the  ministry.  Gradually 
their  number  increased,  but  this  was  the  one  theme  of 
their  conferences  and  prayers — a  new  manifestation  of 
the  Spirit's  presence  and  power  among  them.  It  was  not 
long  before  they  all  became  conscious  of  a  spiritual  quick- 
ening, then  of  a  new  impulse  to  Christian  activity.  Then 
their  interest  began  to  be  communicated  to  others.  This 
was  apparent  in  increased  attendance  at  all  the  weekly 
religious  gatherings  of  the  seminary.  This  interest  was 
carried  into  some  of  the  prayer-meetings  of  the  city, which 
the  students  were  accustomed  to  attend,  into  Sunday- 
school  work,  and  into  various  other  forms  of  Christian 
activity  with  which  they  were  associated.  Then  there 
was  a  revived  religious  life  throughout  the  institution, 
and  a  new  and  pronounced  impulse  was  given  to  all 
forms  of  Christian  activity,  so  marked  as  to  be  recog- 
nized by  all,  and  to  excite  general  comment.  And  it  all 
came  about  in  the  simple  way  indicated.  It  was  in 
accordance  with  the  principle  which  was  so  conspicuously 
illustrated  at  Pentecost.  It  was,  in  fact,  a  Pentecost  to 
those  who  were  associated  in  the  movement.  They 
sought  and  received  a  fresh  effusion  of  the  Spirit,  and 
under  the  influence  of  his  quickening  presence  they  were 
enabled  and  were  impelled  to  render  more  effective  Chris- 
tian service  than  before,  and  this  chiefly  in  the  direction  of 
their  prevailing  aptitudes. 

Later,  one  of  these  students,  remembering  this  experi- 
ence, and  seeking  to  profit  by  its  lessons,  was  led  to  apply 
the  same  principle  with  reference  to  the  reviving  of  a 
church  of  which  he  had  become  the  pastor.  The  church, 
as  he  found  it,  was  at  low  ebb  spiritually.  For  some 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT 


259 


time  previously  there  had  been  a  movement  of  rank 
liberalism  in  the  community.  Although  at  this  time  this 
movement  had  spent  its  force,  it  had  left  its  baneful 
effects  behind.  Christian  people  were  discouraged,  and 
the  cause  of  Christ  was  languishing.  The  young  pastor 
called  a  number  of  the  more  earnest  church-members 
about  him ;  explained  to  them  the  nature  and  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit;  showed  them  how  it  was  possible  for  them 
to  experience  his  quickening  presence  and  power  if  thev 
would;  how  by  this  means  the  whole  church  might  be 
revived  in  spiritual  life  and  aroused  to  active  and  aggres- 
sive service;  how  a  movement  might  be  started  whose 
blessed  results  would  be  beyond  computation.  They 
listened  to  his  words  and  responded  to  his  appeal.  Then 
and  there  they  began  to  make  this  end  the  object  of  their 
united  prayers.  From  time  to  time  they  met  for  this 
purpose,  others  joining  their  number.  Cottage  meetings 
were  held,  with  a  growing  attendance  and  increasing 
interest.  It  was  not  long  before  a  new  activity  was 
manifest  throughout  the  church.  Many  whose  voices 
had  never  before  been  heard  in  public,  joined  others  in 
bearing  testimony  and  in  prayer.  Many,  too,  who  at 
the  outset  had  declared  the  impossibility  of  their  ever  en- 
gaging in  personal  religious  work  found  it  easy  and  de- 
lightful to  do  so.  Special  meetings,  mostly  of  an  informal 
character,  were  continued  in  the  church  for  several  weeks. 
The  pastor's  exhortations  were  brief  and  the  time  was 
mostly  filled  with  personal  testimonies,  which  followed 
each  other  in  quick  succession.  No  time  was  allowed  to 
go  to  waste.  There  was  a  wonderful  loosening  of 
tongues.  The'  Spirit  of  God  wras  there,  and  where  he  is, 
there  is  liberty. 

Nor  were  there  any  signs  of  "excitement."  Every- 
thing, on  the  contrary,  was  quiet,  subdued.  A  deep  and 
earnest  thoughtfulness  prevailed.  Gradually  the  entire 
community  seemed  to  be  pervaded  by  the  Spirit's  presence. 
Not  all  may  have  been  able  to  account  for  the  existing 


26o  POPULAR   MISCONCEPTIONS 

state  of  things,  but  there  were  few  who  failed  to  recognize 
it.  There  was  a  growing  number  of  inquiries  among 
the  unconverted,  and  many  were  led  to  make  the  great 
decision,  and  to  enter  upon  the  new  life.  It  was  a 
remarkable  spiritual  movement,  the  immediate  fruits  of 
wrhich  were  that  nearly  one  hundred  came  into  the  church, 
most  of  whom  were  adults,  the  majority  of  them  heads 
of  families,  many  of  them  being  among  the  most  promi- 
nent representatives  of  the  business  and  social  life  of  the 
place. 

Nor  was  this  all.  Immediately  thereafter,  there  was  a 
movement  to  conserve  this  new  interest,  as  far  as  possible, 
in  a  permanent  way.  The  church  was  thoroughly  organ- 
ized, the  Spirit  leading  as  before.  Provision  was  made 
for  the  activity,  in  some  definite  and  helpful  way,  of  all 
the  members.  There  was  a  place  and  a  work  for  every 
believer.  The  next  season,  special  work  was  resumed 
and  was  carried  on  in  much  the  same  way  as  before.  The 
outcome  was  another  large  accession  to  the  church,  in 
which  were  included  many  of  those  who  had  been  actively 
connected  with  the  liberalistic  movement,  but  who  had  not 
been  reached  by  the  spiritual  revival  of  the  previous  year. 
All  this  was  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  was  so 
recognized  by  the  church,  in  answer  to  earnest,  united 
and  persistent  prayer  on  the  part  of  many  believing  souls. 

It  may  be  added  that  that  same  earnest  spirit  seemed 
to  linger  in  the  church  for  years  thereafter,  and  from  time 
to  time  there  were  signal  displays  of  the  same  gracious 
Presence,  with  corresponding  results.  Furthermore,  the 
same  pastor,  in  other  fields,  and  by  the  employment  of 
similar  means,  was  so  able  to  direct  the  thoughts  and 
enlist  the  prayers  of  the  people  that  results  of  like 
character,  varying  in  power  according  to  existing  condi- 
tions, were  almost  uniformly  brought  about. 

These  facts  from  actual  experience  suggest  methods 
for  all  our  churches  by  which  their  effectiveness  may  be 
greatly  increased,  their  latent  energies  be  developed  and 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT  26l 

applied,  and  many  more  than  is  ordinarily  the  case  be  con- 
verted and  saved.  But  in  order  to  obtain  such  results, 
there  must  be,  on  the  part  of  Christian  people,  what  is 
now  too  often  lacking — a  positive  belief  in  the  Holy 
Spirit,  in  the  reality  of  his  existence,  his  personality,  his 
divine  power  and  availability.  This  must  be  accompanied 
with  united  and  persistent  supplication,  with  sincerity, 
even  agonizing  desire,  for  his  anointing  presence  and 
converting  power.  There  must  be  a  willingness  to 
continue  this  supplication  until  the  blessing  comes,  and 
the  church,  impelled  from  within,  is  ready  for  service. 
Thus  aroused  and  stirred  to  action,  a  church  becomes 
an  irresistible  power  for  righteousness  and  salvation. 


A 


" 


